Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday! Swing, swing!

This little swing card is for our granddaughter's 8th baptismal birthday anniversary. Doves and pearls are extra special because of biblical references.

I'll add a little handwritten note in cursive (yay, she's learning cursive this school year!) to remind her that God has made her His own dear child, and that He is ALWAYS with her!

I'm feeling like a Rumplestiltskin who has awakened after a long, long, non-creative nap (though I guarantee you I haven't been sleeping or napping). My life these past few years has been FULL of roadtrips and caregivings, grandchild care, and friend-care days. Now that school has begun full-time for a couple grands and childcare has become part-time, along with elder-care part-time, I am truly hoping and praying I can get back to using all the wonderful Close To My Heart and other paper stash products in my studio for awesome causes and events!

Thank you for stopping by and renewing your hellos and comments. I hope to stay back in the mojo and share more as time goes by!

The papers are inks are sweet leaf and crystal blue from CTMH packets. The Happy Birthday stamp is from the Party Banners set, and the bird stamp is from VERVE.

Remember to make your envelope pretty by stamping it too!

Blessings,

Jane

A Valentine Valance Decor

Instead of hanging a seasonal banner across the front of our fireplace,

I decided to create a "valance decor" for Valentine's Day this year.

I started with the pennant bases cut from black cardstock,

and then used Paper Studio patterned papers in spring floral designs

for some of the pennant shapes and for all the punched circles behind the letters.

Patterned papers were layered on top of lacey doilies.

I used the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge to cut the I LOVE YOU letters,

then embellished each with Opaque Pearls.

We'll most likely leave this hanging until Spring, and then

I look forward to hanging lighter weight and lighter colored draperies too.

It's been a long winter -- Spring can't come soon enough!

A Frosted I Love You

"Frosted" -- one of my all-time favorite paper packets

from Close To My Heart!

I think it made a beautiful "I Love You" card,

don't you?

The doily stamp in these three layers reminds me of a precious quilt pattern--

a mixture of a Scandinavian and Pennsylvania Dutch design.

The tri-fold shutter card pattern is one of my favorites

to make and to give too!

I used:

CTMH Frosted papers

Classy Doily Flair stamp

Pearl stick pin from Bling Assortment

Small sparkle flower from Floral Accents

Sparkles Flourishes

Artiste Cricut Cartridge for "I Love You"

Opaque pearls

Itty Bitty Sparkles

Colored pencils

Sheer ribbon

Thanks for stopping by my blog and looking at my paper art!

Please leave a comment -- each one is so appreciated.

Happy scrapping!

A Mix of Old and New

The more I use CTMH's new Glitter papers, the more I LOVE them

and the way they make a project POP!

Here's a strip on the front and on the inside of a birthday card

combined with some retired Roxie papers

to give this some glitz and glam

for a special lady.

I like how the Glitz Glitter Gel in Almond

perfectly coordinates with the glitter paper too!

Now go and put some glitz into your scrapping soon!

More Yummy Babycakes!

Card 1 Front

Card 1 Inside

I'm on a Babycakes roll!

Card 1:

Babycakes paper (NEW--available August 1st!)

Opaque Pearls

Shimmer Trim

"Life Is Tweet" stamp set

Inks: Chocolate & Goldrush

Liquid Glass

Card 2

Card 2:

In addition to the Babycakes paper, I used:

"Be Still" Occasion stamp (one of my favorites)

Baker's Twine
Goldrush ink

It's a very simple multi-layered card that can be used

as a notecard since I left it blank inside.
I like cutting banners and they're so trendy right now.

I must make a few baby cards with the giraffe papers before I use all this paper packet!

The colors are so pretty -- imagine how many ways you can use them! 
The possibilities are endless.

Art Philosophy Cricut Flower

Here's another CAS (clean and simple) card. 


Use your imagination here ... the card base is colonial white (the colors aren't so true here with harsh indoor lighting and the phone camera).


A dear friend is having a knee replacement surgery and I'm going to tuck this little card into a "pamper yourself" goodie bag for her hospital stay.


I'm enjoying using the AP cartridge and learning how to make a variety of flowers and other pretty embellishments! If you haven't gotten yours yet, check it out in the Spring/Summer Idea Book on my site: http://janeellinghaas.ctmh.com  or just click HERE for the shopping page link. 


I used CTMH products:  Miracle Kit papers; Garden Green ribbon; Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to make the rose; Opaque Pearl; Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue inks; Liquid Glass


Other: Verve stamped sentiment


I'm glad you stopped by!

H2H Challenge: Using Ribbon

Here's my entry for the "Ribbon" challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week.

And I always like to make the inside of a card eye appealing too ...

This week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart was to use ribbon on a paper art project. 

You can see the blog entries HERE. So many creative people take time to make special paper items--cards, layouts, altered art -- and post their entries. They are so inspiring!

I used the Close To My Heart "Bliss" papers to create a thank you card for neighbors who have been so helpful in getting our mail when we go out of town. A big plate of homemade cookies will accompany this card to help them know how much they are loved.

The CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge has hundreds of designs, including this die cut flower -- I used Liquid Glass to adhere the flowers. If it hadn't dried so quickly and stuck so well, I would have lifted a couple flowers and placed them a bit better ... but practice makes perfect.

This is the first time I've used ribbon in a dual "band" and a duo of bows to accent a card.

The Opaque Pearls give the card a finishing touch for the flower centers and top accents.

My P&S camera bit the dust so I had to capture this card with my phone camera--not the best quality, and not so great at showing these special flowers, but thanks for "getting the picture" as best you can!

Now take a look at every's challenge entries and be inspired!  Happy weekend! I hope birds and butterflies are soaring around you.

Heart 2 Heart -- Sharing My Favorite Technique

(double click to enlarge picture)

This week the H2H challenge is "Our Favorite Techniques" and it's exciting to see all the very special techniques the participants are using and sharing in their paper art!

I have SO MANY favorite techniques, and always appreciate learning new ones from my CTMH friends! So thank you, one and all!

I used the 3-D stamping technique to create this card for a teacher who is retiring after 40 years of teaching service! That long stretch in itself is so awesome, but in addition, he has served with DELIGHT and his students all know and appreciate that quality and commitment from him!

For a manly card, I chose Twitterpated papers and the chocolate and sorbet colors in addition to the touch of blue. I used the "Delight in Everything" CTMH stamp set. (Inside left, I used a Verve Scripture sentiment.)

To achieve a 3-D stamping effect, simply stamp first with the White Pigment ink. I stamped on the B&T paper oval. Let dry thoroughly. Clean the MyAcrylix stamps with a baby wipe. I used a hairdryer to ensure complete dryness.

Then stamp slightly off, for a shadow effect, with an ink color -- I chose Sorbet to go with the card's background color.

I chose not to stamp the stems twice, since I like them simple, the way they are in white.

To make the stamped flowers pop, I added itty bitty opaque pearls.

This is a very easy technique to use when you just want to enhance a card with some shadow-looking effects!

Check out ALL the awesome techniques at the Heart 2 Heart Challenges! You'll LOVE what you find there!

Happy Birthday Butterfly

I'll never get tired of this gorgeous butterfly, one of the stamps in Close To My Heart's "Find Your Style" stamp set!

Random stamping (inside) is ALWAYS fun to do!

I used: The Paper Studio papers, M*s ribbon, M*s orange gems, lace, Cuttlebug
CTMH: Find Your Style stamps, happy birthday stamp, inks, Opaque Pearls

Happy Birthday Bird

A little bird told me it was a special someone's birthday!

I used: The Paper Studio papers; Cuttlebug for cs; sheer dotted ribbon
CTMH: Liquid Applique on bird's tail and wing; foam squares; Opaque Pearl for bird's eye; Happy Birthday stamp; heavenly blue, hollyhock, and chocolate inks

Tea for Two Cards

A tea bag fits inside each section within this "tea for two" card that measures 3.5" x 3.5" when it's closed.

I used CTMH cs, Elegant Bouquet, and That's Amore papers for these two cards. My goal is to make a card for each mom in our dd's MOPS group for their Valentine get- together. Each card will be made with different papers. Each will have a special love Scripture verse inside.

So glad you stopped by!

Happy, warm, NO-snow weekend!

Valentines by Cuttlebuggin'

How fun to use the Cuttlebug to emboss the CTMH clear acrylic cards and the papers too!

I used some Elegant Bouquet paper scraps and its coordinating Stickease. It's so super easy to line up those Stickease items on an acrylic card. FUN, simple, easy, and did I say fun?

And one more with a Cuttlebug swirl:

We're having a "snow day" today, a great time to watch the cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, and nuthatches at the feeders and make homemade soup.

Thanks for looking! Keep your hearts and homes warm and safe!

(White ribbon & silver embellisments are from my non-CTMH stash.)

Mistletoe Clear Card

Here's one of the many clear cards I've made so far -- loving the new CTMH Mistletoe papers and embellishments. And I ALWAYS love Christmasy colors!

More to come ... I must get out and enjoy the 70 degrees while it lasts ... a blustery cold front is coming our way!

Update: Blogger just let me upload the second photo showing the card's inside sentiment. AND we're under a tornado watch! Such weird, crazy weather we're having in the Midwest. But I'll take it, compared to the snowy areas I've been seeing on the newscasts. I'm NOT ready for winter. I AM thankful to have warm winter fleece-lined boots. So in a small way, I am ready. Or not.