BLOGTOBERFEST

Fellow Consultant and the wildly creative Tresa Black (Fabulously Artsy) has put out a challenge for October. The challenge is to step things up on our blogs! It could be more artwork, more tutorials, or just a better blog!

She will be sharing tips and tutorials all month on making a better blog. I can't wait to get started!

Check back often....better yet, JOIN THE FUN! If you already have a blog you'll find lots of good ideas on stepping things up. If you have been thinking about starting a blog, now is the time!

Michelle

Blogtoberfest--Fun with Glitter!

I recently bought a package of glitter made by a la Mode and it's beautiful just in the package! 18 gorgeous colors and they are a great match to our CTMH colors...especially our 8 NEW colors! What a find!  Of course the photos don't to the glitter justice but I think you'll get the idea! Using a glue pad I stamped the images then sprinkled on the glitter. A key part to glitter stamping is to "push" the glitter into the glue so put a piece of scrap paper on top of the glitter, roll a brayer over it a couple times or rub with your fingers, then lift the scrap paper. Now you can tap off the excess glitter. In the top card I actually used two colors of glitter on the flower. It's hard to see but looks very nice in real life. Both cards feature paper from the Olivia paper kit. CS and ink colors are Pear, Smoothie and Sunset.

Happy Glittering!
Michelle

Clear Card with Embossed details

Yesterday I spent a wonderful day at a 13 hour crop with my good friend Sheila. We always have fun on these days and the time goes quickly! We don't have our next one scheduled until Jan. 8th when we hope to have our next group of SOTM sets to work on! 

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week is embossing, so this is card fits the bill! Both the bear and eagle are embossed in Cocoa.

Besides working on some personal scrapbooking pages (still works in progress), I also made a total of 15 cards. Can you say..."productive"! Here's a card for an upcoming swap. It's a clear card and honestly...the photo doesn't do it justice.  Stamp set is C1424 Nature's Gift.....a beautiful set!

Papers are from the X7127B Magnifique kit. I can't get enough of these colors! I also used a Spellbinders die with my Cuttlebug to create the circle and sponged the background. Dry the ink before embossing the bear otherwise you have embossing powder clinging all over! the bear is embossed in Cocoa as is the eagle. The bear is layered on some B&T/cs strips and embellished with Mocha Pearls to the front of the clear card. Everything else is on the inside! 

I LOVE the way this card turned out. I hope the swappers do, too! 

Michelle

Blogtoberfest--Adapting Ideas

This layout is based on a wall hanging created by our own Jeanette Lynton! The left page is similar to the wall hanging, but I the right page was created as a companion page using the same ideas! I've adjusted some of the details based on which stamp sets and supplies I had on hand. If you like an idea but don't have all the supplies used for that project....search your stash! More than likely you'll have plenty of things that will work just as well! 

Some of the things I adjusted were the Dimensional Element letters and the stamped image on them, the B&T papers, the tree images, the mummy square. 

 Next time you find an idea you'd like to lift.....look around for things you can use first! The more you use supplies you already have the more economical they become!

Michelle

Blogtoberfest--Multiple Techniques

D1438 Circle of Love

7"x5" side fold card

Wouldn't you love to get a card like this one! I know it would make my day! This is a card inspired by a couple of others. Thanks Tresa Black for inspiring the sponged look for this peacock! She embossed and sponged her image but I chose to stamp mine in black over the sponged colors. 

I was also inspired by a card I saw and I'm sorry to say I don't have the name of the artist. It was a card using a non-CTMH stamp of a peacock with the panel sections as part of that image. I created the look by creating the peacock image on one piece of cardstock, cutting it into 3 panels and ink distressing the edges with black. Layering on white cs and then black cs helped create the illusion overall illusion I saw in the original card.

A Cuttlebug and embossing folders was used for the details along the right side of the card. This is a 5"x7" card but my embossing folders weren't long enough to fit the side length of the card. That frustrated me for a bit until I decided to try doing in two steps. I placed the folder only 1/2 way for the first pass, then flipped it around and did a second pass to make the detail the full length of the cs layer. A bit of sanding on the raised embossing makes it pop!

It's hard to see, but there are some sparkles on the peacock's head plumes and from our new Blue & Green Sparkles collection.  The tail plume as some of our clear Bitty Sparkles. Everything can use a little touch of bling!

CTMH Ink colors: Pacifica, Lagoon, Pear, Black

CTMH Cardstock: White Daisy, Black, Pacifica

Techniques: sponging, sanding, dry embossing,  ink distressing, layering,  embellishing

When used alone or a few at a time.....simple techniques like the ones I used here can really add a lot to your cards and layouts. 

Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon.

Michelle

Fall Cards & Layout

Here are some fall ideas for both cards and a layout! I'm also doing some doubling up of ideas for both Blogtoberfest and the Heart2Heart challenge for this week! Be sure to click on the links for both for even more great ideas. Don't forget to leave comments wherever you go as we all appreciate them so much!

D1371 Many Thanks

X7118B Twitterpated Paper Kit

This card is a pattern from our How-to book Wishes (9033) called Simple Side View. It's a 3.5"x8" card that will fit in a legal sized envelope. There is a window cut into the front of the card that allows the B&T paper to show through from the inside. The leaves and acorn were stamp rolled in Sorbet and Sweet Leaf inks with a touch of Chocolate ink, too.  I also scored a line around the outside edges using my paper trimmer and stylus, then sanded the raised line. I also gently sanded the textured cardstock on the front of the card a bit to create some additional texture. 

D1371 Many Thanks

C1342 Damask Tiles

D1335 Intrinsic Backgrounds

Colors used are Juniper, Sweet Leaf and Twilight. 

Lots of different things going on here that all work together to create a very pretty card! For the circle I used a reverse mask to sponge Twilight ink as a background for the acorns. One acorn is stamped directly on the circle and the other is popped up with 3D Foam. The leaves are stamp rolled in Sweet Leaf and Twilight. The leaf on the message was done in 2nd generation.

C1323 Whooo Loves You

D1373 Childhood Portrait

X7112B Animal Cookies Paper Kit

Z1047 Dimensional Elements Simple Alphabet

This layout is based on a wall hanging project our own Jeanette Lynton shared on her blog. I've changed it up a little bit to use supplies I had on hand making it into a layout! The mummy on the bottom is easy to make! Get out your scraps of white cs strips...ink the edges in black and layer them onto black cs to look like bandages. Leave a space for eyes. Make the eyes with a bit of Liquid Applique and two black Bitty Brads. The moon is a metal rimmed circle with the paper cut out of the center! On the Dimensional Elements letters I stamped an image from Lovely Lace in black ink. If I had had a spider web image I would have used that instead, but the lace gave it a nice look, too! 

The layout base is actually Grey Wool cardstock with lines hand drawn to create a woodgrain look.

I hope you enjoyed your visit! Bookmark my blog so you can stop back often! Don't forget to check out the other great ideas for Blogtoberfest and the Heart2Heart Challenge!

Michelle

Blogtoberfest--A SCRAPPY Background!

I hope you're are all saving your scraps! I just put mine back in the zip lock bag with the rest of the cardstock or B&T paper. I know....they do tend to build up quickly don't they. But scraps come in very handy and are a good way to make the most of your papercrafting dollars!

This card uses strips of both B&T paper and cardstock from the Magnifique kit that are only 1" x 3 1/2"! We've all got pieces like that! I added a scalloped edge for fun and just layered them in an overlapping pattern on a base piece of Cocoa cardstock. It's just a pretty background all by itself!

Next I stamped the flower from A Posy (A1102) using Lagoon ink rolled in Pacifica. The stem and leaves are stamped in Lagoon with the leaves stamped in 2nd generation then rolled in 1st generation for the darker edge. It's hard to tell in the photo but the flower is 3D'd on foam tape except for the leaf on the left which is glued directly to the background. As a finishing touch I used one of our new Shimmer Brads (Z1349) to give a bit of sparkle and texture.

Now....go look over your scraps and see what beautiful backgrounds you can create!

Michelle

Blogtoberfest--Sponging

Welcome to Blogtoberfest!

Stop by often for a month-long feast of tips and ideas!

Click on the Blogtoberfest link in the upper left for 

even more ideas!

Create a really cool background by simply sponging! For this Halloween card I used the colors Creme Brulee, Sunset and Pansy Purple. First, I sponged the Pansy Purple across the bottom. Then I decided where I wanted my setting sun because that would be the brightest area. With this stamp image I thought it would fit best under the 3 bats! I sponged a little bit of Creme Brulee in this area and expanded it across the "horizon". Next it was time to add the Sunset color above and add a touch of Pansy Purple around the edge to complete the look. With sponging you get different depths of color which works well in this case because it gives a cloud effect without much effort at all! The final step was to stamp the image in Black. You could do it the other way too.... stamp the image first and sponge on top of it. Whatever works for you!

One more little tip.... I tied a knot in the ribbon and added two bitty sparkles for eyes to create a bat! I had A LOT of fun making this card!

Michelle