A Miracle Birthday

A very special lady will be celebrating her 95th birthday soon, God willing. Alma was my long-time alto-singing friend in our church choir, and though we don't sing side by side now, I'm always so happy to see her at church events and around town. She's a ball of energy and always has good news to share! Flowers and butterflies are two of her favorite things in God's creation.  And she'll be the first to tell anyone that she wakes up saying, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!" She's just full of rejoicing!

My card recipe -- CTMH products:

Miracle papers
Stamps: Celebrate Life; From Me to You
Inks: Sweet Leaf; Olive; Crystal Blue
Miracle kit Irresistable Die Cut Flower
Foam squares

I stamped the butterfly in Crystal Blue, then I stamp-rolled its edges in Olive.
(Some days I just don't trust myself with the X-acto knife, so I didn't cut the space between the antennas--it would look better if I had!)

Other: Green sparkles; sheer ribbon; Verve Scripture stamp

So glad you stopped by! I hope I've inspired you even a teeny tiny bit! Blessings!

And the Blog Candy Winner Is ...

Amy K from Michigan! She's a fairly new scrapbooker, and I hope she enjoys all the fun CTMH stuff!

After a ton of email entries and two blogsite entries, the random winner was picked by Little Princess last night.

Amy, your box of goodies is on its way to you tomorrow.

Thanks for playing, everyone, and happy Father's Day Sunday!

Hoppy Swing Card

This is my second card for the H2H challenge this week -- click HERE to see my first entry.

Here's another example of background stamping and my second swing card design. This time I used three small stamps. I added Liquid Glass to fill the open-designed hearts.

The textured CS isn't quite as easy to stamp as is the smooth. But I do love the peachy color of the back of the CS!

It's been fun seeing everyone's creative cards with stamped backgrounds!

Card recipe: All CTMH products

Felicity paper packet
Olive CS
Inks: Olive, Sorbet
Stamps: Princess (D1115)
Olive marker
Hemp
Circle Window Charms
Adhesive backed Twill (yes, you can print from your pc and stamp on it!)
Liquid Glass
(I computer-printed "Happy Father's Day)

Happy weekend, everyone, and Happy Father's Day to all the dads!

World's Best Dad - Side Step Card

front view

top view 

and a side view to show you the three "steps" ...

Recipe with CTMH products:
Rustic Trail Level 2 paper packet (retired)
Rustic Trail Level 2 Stickease (retired; great product!)
Stamp sets: World's Best Dad; It's Your Day (gift box texture for canoe)
Inks & Markers: Chocolate; Dutch Blue
Big and Itty Bitty Pewter Brads
Foam squares

You can find a great Side Step Card tutorial HERE.

I noticed after photo'ing the card that I didn't hide that itty bitty fly lure's brad legs very well!

Thanks for stopping by!

Heart2Heart Challenge - Background Stamping

I chose a bright and playful look for this week's challenge at Heart2Heart -- it's a card for a new young daddy. The "Happy Father's Day" sentiment is stamped on the envelope. A card like this could be used for just about any celebration!

For the tri-color background stamping on both sides of the cut CS, I used the heart, flower, and "I love you now & forever" circle stamps from the Sensational Seals. First I stamped the circle stamps; then I added the smaller stamps and simply kept rotating them all on the bright white CS.

I used the swing card (flip flap) design -- you can find a tutorial HERE.

Card recipe:  (all CTMH products except the curly style gift ribbon I cut for lion's mane & tail)

Animal Cookies papers Level 2
Animal Cookies Stickease (red stripe behind lion)
Stamps: Life's A Jungle; Sensational Seals
Inks: Tulip; Sunflower; Clover Meadow
Square Window Charm
Foam Squares
Chocolate marker & watercolor pen (lion's nose)

Be sure to check out all the great background stamping techniques and beautiful cards at Heart2Heart!

Thanks for stopping by!

Follow Your Dreams

A few scrap pieces of Bliss paper, some random stamping, and voila! Another easy card is done!

Recipe: CTMH products ...
Bliss paper packet Level 2
Shimmer Brad
You & Me Kit stamps
Grey Wool & Desert Sand inks

Flap Overlap Card

For this card I used the "Flap Overlap" design from Jeanette Lynton's cardmaking book, Originals, page 21.

When I look for creative ideas, I turn to Jeanette's cardmaking and scrapbooking books. You can find them here. They make paper crafting so fun & easy! These books make wonderful gifts for any scrapbooking/cardmaking friends.

This card will be for a special couple's silver anniversary -- I may use Versamark ink and silver glitter to make the flourishes pop.

Recipe:
Colonial White CS (base)
Kraft CS
Bliss paper packet Level 2
Stamps from "You and Me" kit--flourish and celebrate
Inks: Grey Wool, Desert Sand
Designer Brads Shimmer
Itty Bitty pewter brads
Foam squares (under the Shimmer brad)
Scoring tool
(Sheer ribbon from The Ribbon Boutique)

Remember to enter to win some blog candy (new items are added to the box each day) -- just click on the photo on the right sidebar until June 18.

We've had a flurry of a new four-year-old's activities including a dance recital AND a swim party birthday celebration this weekend. A child's JOY in simple things such as a Polly Pocket or a pool "noodle" is so refreshing! After church today, I'm heading back to the pool for more fun. Today is our Strawberry Shortcake's actual birth day -- that just means more cake & ice cream!

Here's a peek at the cake complete with its "crumb coat", recycled candles, & four little mini friends:

 



Have a super Sunday -- happy Pentecost! God's force--the Holy Spirit--is with us as our Friend, Comforter, and Motivator!

Love! H2H Challenge

 

How appropriate that this week's Heart2Heart challenge is wedding cards!

June is the most often-chosen month for weddings!

Be sure to visit H2H and see all the gorgeous cards

the participants have created!

I decided to play along by using

a Center Step Card design

and personalized it on the inside with

the couple's initials in lower case chipboards.

The letters are tied together with a ribbon

and tagged with "celebrate" and "happy day"

in a heavenly blue shade.

Recipe: CTMH Items

Bliss Paper Packet Level 2

Textured Colonial White CS

Color Ready Kraft Borders

Hemp

Sheer Ribbon

Stamps: Be Mine, You & Me

Inks: Grey Wool, Desert Sand

(Chipboard letters from The Paper Studio)

(Marvy Scalloped Oval Punches)

Thanks for looking!

Graduation Explosion Box

My CTMH upline, Deb Butler (The Scrapping Buckeye Babes) shared this cool graduation explosion box tutorial via email!

I made one this morning, and adjusted the lid and cap dimensions a bit, and here's how it turned out--all ready for a gift card inside for a special grad.

1. Use one piece of 12 x 12 inch CS; score at 4.75 and 7.25 both directions.

2. Cut on all scored lines that lead from the outer edge to the middle square. You will form a cross shape. Save your cut-out pieces.

3. Use a favorite B&T paper for the inside mats. Cut each 2.25 x 4.5 inches and adhere to the four inside sections. I used the black patterned B&T from Fanfare. (The grad's colors are black, white, and red.)

4. Make the gift card holder by folding a 6.5 x 4.5 inch piece of coordinating CS, scored on the 2.25 and 4.5 inch marks, to be folded into thirds.

5. Cut a piece of CS a size depending on the stamp you wish to use. Here I used "congrats" from the Celebrate the Everyday stamp set. I used white CS and inked the edges in Cranberry, then adhered it to the middle section of the gift holder.

6. Use the circle punch to notch the top of the gift holder. Score across the bottom of the gift holder piece, then adhere, and trim the flap so the two edges are "notched torward the center" so the flap doesn't show; adhere to the middle square of the box.

7.  Trim one of the squares you cut from the original CS piece to a 3.5 x 3.5 inch square. Score at the .5 inch mark along each side. Cut on the top flaps and the bottom flaps to the score line. Place adhesive on the outside of each "tab" and adhere each to the inside of the scored sides to form the "lid." (Hey, that B&T paper on the black VersaMat grid lines is makin' me a little DiZzY!!!) Keep scrolling ...

8.  Trim another scrap into a 3.5 x 3.5 inch square for the mortarboard's flat piece. Mark the middle, pierce with the paper piercer, and attach with a Big Brad.  I cut 5 strands of Sassy Strands 6 inches long, doubled them, created a tassle by tying them together, and then attached a short length of SS to attach around the Big Brad.

9. Add any embellishments you wish, such as the school's name or logo, the grad's name and date, or a printed photo or two.

10. Add a special gift card or cash and you're ready to GIVE this baby away!

Happy Graduation to all the grads out there!

Remember to click on my blog candy link (top right corner of my site) and enter to win some Close To My Heart products! I have even more items to add to the box ... some nice surprises!

I used:

CTMH products--Fanfare paper packet, Celebrate the Everyday stamp set, Cranberry Ink, Summer Carnival Sassy Strands, Big Black Brad

Other: ProvoCraft Alphabitties in Black, SRM AlphaSet in Red

TaDa! A Fanfare Card

A special friend helped me in a huge way recently. I'm so thankful and blessed to have her in my life. This card is for her.

I used all CTMH products:

Fanfare paper packet
Lucky Stars stamp set
Cranberry ink
Heartfelt Whimsy Die Cuts (star, arrow, button)
Hemp
Foam squares

Let's hear it for Fanfare! The colors and patterns can be used in SO MANY ways!

I like to make the inside of cards pretty too -- with the CTMH coordinating papers, it's an easy thing to do. Some foam squares behind the yellow stars add a little dimension. Remember that you can surprise someone when he or she opens a card!

Do you think I should add an "I" on the front of the card before "Count my lucky stars"?

Here's the inside after I added some stitching inside the stars with the Cranberry marker.

And here's the stamped envelope! TaDa! I'm sure the mail carriers like to see some pretty stuff once in a while among all the bills and junk mail.

Thanks for visiting! Double thanks for leaving a comment!