Warm Circle of Family and Friends

Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.  I hope your Christmas was a special one.

Merry Christmas

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!  

Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve

The houses B&T paper from City Sidewalks makes this a simple, but fun card.  Simply stamp the "Merry Christmas" from the Very Merry Stamp set in Black and using markers, line the different pieces with color.  3-D adhesive makes the ornament pop and the shimmer trim sparkles up the card.

JOY

This tree folding technique is easy to follow on splitcoaststampers site here.  It works great with double sided paper like our Background and Texture Paper. Add a little Kraft cardstock for the tree trunks to ground them to the card.  A zip strip or part of the striped B&T paper makes a nice "line" to stamp "JOY" from the Very Merry stamp set.

The sparkly stars at the tops of the folded trees are from the City Sidewalks Complements.

Wonderful Christmastime

Several Mondays ago, Mojo Monday dared us to use this sketch. To spruce up the card base, it was embossed with the Dots Embossing Folder and White Daisy Pigment Ink was lightly brushed over to create the idea of snow.  The building scene is super easy, because it's a sticker from the City Sidewalks Complements.

The title is a combination of two stickers form the Complements, including one that is stamped directly onto the sticker using "MERRY" from the "Very Merry" stamp set. These matte cardstock stickers are perfect for using stamps and ink or markers.

To Grandmother's House We Go!

The City Sidewalks paper packet includes two sheets of Picture My Life style cards.  These cards are great for use on the front of greeting cards.  The white "road" and house at the end was cut from a PML card and stamped using the "Very Merry" stamp set.  The trees paper from CS are great to form the illusion that the car is driving through the woods to get to Grandmother's House.

The car is a sticker, and the glitter snowflakes in the upper right hand corner, both from the CS Complements.   The "exhaust" from part of a banner of the glitter die cuts.

Pull back the drapes!

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter Z. This may be the name

of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has

chosen as their Z element will be featured in their post.

If you came from Lauren Moore then you're on the right track!

 

 

 Confession...this card does not have any stamping.  But!  The City Sidewalks Complement stickers provide a great sentiment, "Let It Snow". And the round snowflake "button" is also a sticker, with a red gem in the middle.  The Zip strip (my "Z"!) is a nice valance for the drapery fold below.

 

The technique for the card is called the drapery fold card and the instructions to make this can be found on splitcoaststampers here.   This technique works best with double sided paper, like our Background and Texture paper.  The Peacock paper underneath was embossed with a wood grain embossing folder.

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Catherine Nowak of "catscrapbooking".

In case you get lost along the way…go to Catherine Nowak for a complete list of participants!

No Peeking!

One of the papers in the City Sidewalks packet has a word search pattern, and the words and sayings are all holiday themed.  You can pick which holiday saying and you can tailor your card or layout by highlighting this saying.  This card takes advantage of the "No Peeking" saying for a presents theme.

The Complements for each Reflections collection are a great deal for card making and scrapbooking.  The City Sidewalks Complements have both glitter shapes and stickers.   By combining the two, you aren't overwhelmed by the sparkle, but still feels like a festive card.

Very Merry

 

One of the goodies you get in the City Sidewalks collection is a set of skinny washi tape.  We also used the "Very Merry" stamp set that has this great saying in bold letters, "Very Merry".  By tearing washi tape in progressively bigger sizes, and stamping the "Very Merry" in Willow, the tree shape forms.  Add Kraft cardstock for the tree trunk.

The second technique is the way the card is put together.  It's called  Joy Fold card and instructions to build one can be found here at splitcoaststampers.  It's a double fold out card, and is a fun surprise when opening it.

Joy at the Theater

 

A couple of the patterns in the City Sidewalks My Reflections paper reminded me of drapes or wallpaper.  They made a great idea for a Theater fold card.  The curtain at the theater splits in the middle.  The Valance is made of the same paper, scalloped with a punch.  "JOY" is stamped from the Very Merry stamp set.  The sparkly snowflakes in the middle of the card is three alternating sparkly snowflakes stacked on top using 3-d adhesives.

 

Popping up Holidays

The biggest excitement this season in cardmaking was a technique called the "Twist and Pop" card that I believe started with Lillybits.  It takes a little bit of planning, but it is such a cool card, that the prep is worth it.  The Picture My Life card packs are PERFECT for this type of card.  The 4 X 6 cards can be used for the front and inside covers.  The 3 X 4 cards are used for the pop out part.  A little trimming is required, but this makes it super easy to put the decorations together.

Another great thing about our Picture My Life cards are the two orientations.  One side is portrait and one side is landscape.  The samples below show how the City Sidewalks kit can be used in the landscape or portrait orientations.

Inside, vary the use of City Sidewalks complements, stickers and die cuts.  Pop on a zip strip with a sentiment.

Landscape card actually pops up and down.  It worked great for adding a car to the trees paper, so it looks like Santa is on his way to Grandma's house. Or use a small tree from the folded tree technique.  Add sentiments on the inside cover area.

Coffee Cup gift card

 

Everyone needs gift card holders for Christmas, so I always try to offer at least one gift card holder in the workshop.  This year, I thought the coffee cup gift card was a  cute idea to try.  The front of the card uses Kraft cardstock, using the Stripe embossing folder to create the cardboard sleeve.  One of the zip strips from the City Sidewalks creates a nice ring around the sleeve.  The sentiment is a stamped sticker from the City Sidewalks Complements.

  

The cute part is the cup lid pulls out the gift card for the recipient.  It tucks neatly inside the bottom of the cup.  The back of the cup is used for signing your name.  The whole card is an A2 size, so it fits in a normal envelope.

A Banner Year!

The Christmas kit this year, City Sidewalks, turned out to be a festive kit to create a ton of neat cards for this holiday season.  During the month of December, I'll highlight several of the cards from the Technique Workshop that was held this year.  It takes advantage of versatile double-sided patterned cardstock that is perfect for the theme, as well as the Complements, red gems, and extra doodads.

 

This card was pretty easy to put together.  The three strips of  B&T paper are the same width and length, dovetail the ends.  Stamp a sentiment on another banner and add a sparkly red present from the City Sidewalks Complements. 

Just To Say

Need a quick and easy way to say thanks or Happy Birthday but still want to get your hands a little inky?  New in the Holiday Expressions are smaller Workshops Your Way for cardmakers. These affordable kits include an exclusive stamp set, B&T Duos patterned paper, cardstock, enamel gems, and card bases and envelopes. Whip these cards up in a snap!

Yuletide Scrapbooking

I know we just got into the Autumn holiday season, and I'm already showing Christmas themed stamps. Many of us like to get a jump on our holiday and New Years cards. Got some photos from last year that you want to scrapbook? Warm up your Cricut and cut/stamp the images from this month's special stamp.

SOTM: Yuletide Joy

Yuletide Joy is a great stamp set but is only available during the month of October.
Get it now for $5 with your qualifying order.

Available October 1-31, 2016

Express your moments in French or Spanish

We now have two Idea Books live with different projects to choose from. Did you know we have multiple language stamps? If you see a small black square with a little world next to a stamp set, that means it is available in English, French or Spanish. To see the translations, go online to my website at http://inkysquid.closetomyheart.com/ and search for "Spanish" or "French".  Here are a few examples, with many more on my website.

Contact me for your copy of the Idea Book!

Scrapboking Swan Lake

 The cooler weather is approaching and Autumn holidays are here. Swan Lake is a wonderful collection with beautiful Fall colors. Celebrate your Autumn family gatherings with rich deep colors and Complements with titles like "Blessed", "Gratitude", and "Give Thanks". Grey Enamel Gems and Black Shimmer Ribbon add that extra touch to your projects.  Swan Lake is also a new Workshop Your Way, so you can get the paper packet, complements, and goodies all in one collection. 

Check this out Hostesses!

During the month of October, hostesses have another fantastic option for using your Hostess Rewards credit—you can apply it toward a New Consultant Kit! As a hostess, when your Gathering reaches $250 in sales, not only will you get 50% off a product of your choice, but you can also choose to use your $40 in Hostess Rewards credit to get a discounted New Consultant Kit! With higher Gathering totals, you can save even more! Take this opportunity to book an event with your consultant, so you can experience the Real Rewards of joining the Close To My Heart community!

Scare up some fun with Jeepers Creepers Layouts

Jeepers Creepers is a new Workshops Your Way, where you can get the paper packet, complements, and goodies all in one collection. Create several layouts with leftovers to spare from exclusive layout instructions online. 

2016 Holiday Expressions is Here!

The new Close To My Heart Holiday Expressions is here!

All of our Autumn holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas can be found in this special edition. Sixty-eight pages of festive ideas for scrapbook pages, handmade cards, and home decor.

Make sure to get your hands on these items in the next couple months, because they are while supplies last and won't be available after December.

Contact me for your copy of the Idea Book!