Last Chance for Free To Be Me Paper Collection

This is the third card I created using the National Scrapbooking Month Free To Be Me paper collection, May 2014 Stamp Of The Month You've Got A Friend and the workshop guide that CTMH Corporate artists produced.



Unfortunately today is the last day of May and the last day to purchase the Free to Be Me Paper Collection and May Stamp of the Month You've Got a Friend. Until midnight tonight they are available for $5 each when you place a qualifying order of $50*.

Sadly here is a final look at the papers in the Free To Be Me collection.

The collection includes 6 B&T Duos™ papers designed exclusively for this promotion, 6 UV-coated, designed cardstock sheets, and 2 sheets of complementary printed vellum. The vellum designs come in polka-dot and feather patterns.

When you order the Free To Be Me Paper collection I will send you a guide that will help you make the card shown above, the cards I shared on May 20 and May 24 and two two-page layouts ("My Heart" pictured above and another named "Senior"). After creating the five projects you will still have paper to make other projects. I found I had almost a full sheet of each B&T Duos™ and much of the vellum as well.

If you want to make the layouts or cards exactly as shown in the guide, additional supplies you may need are: C1584 My Acrylix™ Feathers, C1575 My Acrylix™ True to Life, E1029 My Acrylix™ Marquee Uppercase, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2103 Bamboo Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z2114 Cocoa Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z2195 Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z1928 Durables Triangle Studs, Z1853 Aqua Dots, Z1297 Edge Distresser, S1405 My Acrylix™ You've Got a Friend (the May 2014 SOTM).

*Offer valid May 1–31, 2014. Shipping/handling is calculated based on the full retail price of the discounted paper collection ($11.95) and stamp of the month ($17.95).

Click the Shop with me link above to place an order or contact me if you have questions about any CTMH product or promotion or to schedule a Home or Online Gathering.

National Scrapbooking Month Is Ending Saturday

May and National Scrapbooking Month are ending soon and that means the Free to Be Me Paper Collection and May Stamp of the Month You've Got a Friend will soon be gone too.

Until tomorrow, May 31, they are available for $5 each when you place a qualifying order of $50*.

The papers in the Free To Be Me collection are wonderful and can be used on a variety of projects.

The collection includes 6 B&T Duos™ papers designed exclusively for this promotion, 6 UV-coated, designed cardstock sheets, and 2 sheets of complementary printed vellum. The vellum designs come in polka-dot and feather patterns.

When you order the Free To Be Me Paper collection I will send you a guide that will help you make the layout pictured above, a second two-page layout and three cards. Visit May 20 and May 24 to see cards from the guide.

If you want to make the layouts or cards exactly as shown in the guide you will receive, additional supplies you may need are: C1584 My Acrylix™ Feathers, C1575 My Acrylix™ True to Life, E1029 My Acrylix™ Marquee Uppercase, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2103 Bamboo Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z2114 Cocoa Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z2195 Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z1928 Durables Triangle Studs, Z1853 Aqua Dots, Z1297 Edge Distresser, S1405 My Acrylix™ You've Got a Friend (the May 2014 SOTM).

*Offer valid May 1–31, 2014. Shipping/handling is calculated based on the full retail price of the discounted paper collection ($11.95) and stamp of the month ($17.95).

Click the Shop with me link above to place an order or contact me if you have questions about any CTMH product or promotion or to schedule a Home or Online Gathering.

30 Weeks Until Christmas

This is week three of my goal to create and post at least one Christmas card. This is another card I created using the Cricut® Explore and Cricut® Design Space.



This is the Noel Christmas card from the ready-to-make projects in Cricut® Design Space. The paper is from my stash. If you notice the little "hairs" on either of my cards blame it on "haste makes waste". Have you ever heard your mother or grandmother say that? I remember both of mine saying that, but I don't recall my father or grandfather saying it. I wonder if the women were complaining about the men when saying it? In my haste, I forgot to change the paper settings on my Explore, so the cut was not clean through the cardstock. I tried cutting it again, but obviously upon reinserting my cardstock I did not get it exactly lined up. I think I might be able to brush enough of the "hairs" off to use the card and if I send it to a non-crafty person they might not notice or think it was designed to be that way, right?

Once again I used "butcher" paper to create the envelope. The envelope is from the CTMH/Cricut® Artiste Collection (Z1790). The image on the envelope flap is from Merry and Bright and was written using the Cricut® Gemstone Blue Antiquities Pen. On the front of the envelope I placed the ornament overlay from the CTMH/Cricut® Artbooking Collection (Z1906) also using the Gemstone Blue pen (I wish I thought to take a photo).

I also used the scraps from the original card to create this card, but neglected to use the advice I got on Facebook (when I try their idea I will post the details and give them credit).

As in the past, I used the "original" card as a template, glue with a small applicator and tweeters to help me carefully place the cuts through the "stencil" of the "original" card. Both papers are from my stash. I also used a greeting card blank (that came with envelopes) on this card. There was a little more white space on the edges than I wanted so I used the chevron stamp for the CTMH My Acrylix® In The Background (D1540) stamp set with Slate Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2173).

Have you started creating your Christmas cards yet or will you be frantic near the end of November or beginning of December trying to get them done? I hope you find a chance to get an early start on your Christmas cards.

Sleepy Snowman Christmas Card

I spent some of the Memorial Day Weekend crafting and created several cards. The cards were either started from scratch or created to use some stamps that were already colored, but not completed into a finished project.

This digi from digistamps4joy was printed and colored using colored pencils (not watercolor) and needed to be completed into a card. I decided to create an [easy] allusion of looking through a window. I cut the opening using a Spellbinders Nestabilities Long Classic Rectangles (Large). I popped the interior edges of the brown cardstock to create some depth though you cannot see it in the photo. The holly is cut from a QuicKutz die. All papers and the card base are from my stash.

My card will be linked to the DigiStamps 4 Joy Challenge #92 - Anything Goes and Decosse's Dynamite Doodles 12 Months of Christmas Card Link Up.

I think something may need to be added to the upper left, but at this point in time I am not sure what. Fortunately I have some time before Christmas cards need to be mailed.

Thanks for visiting today.

Happy Holidays Christmas Robin

This is another "extra" print I made of the digi from the April 2014 Digi Stamps 4 Joy Monthly Christmas Challenge.



I did not do anything special to "seal" the ink from my printer on this card. I used colored pencils (not watercolor) on this image. I also used a white card base from my stash. The background woodgrain paper is from the CTMH Timberline paper pack. The sentiment is from CTMH My Acrylix™ Merry & Bright (C1510) and was stamped with a Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2105).

My card will be linked to the DigiStamps 4 Joy Challenge #92 - Anything Goes and Decosse's Dynamite Doodles 12 Months of Christmas Card Link Up.

I hope you too are getting an early start on your Christmas cardmaking. I know November 2014 will be less stressful in my home this year. Thanks for visiting today.

Christmas Robin Magic of Christmas

When I created my card for the April 2014 Digi Stamps 4 Joy Monthly Christmas Challenge, I printed several copies of the digital stamp because I am fairly new to using digis and I wanted to try different techniques. I am printing my digis using an inkjet printer (one that is advertised for printing photos at home), but I was uncertain about the ink smearing with watercolor pencils or markers or alcohol markers.

I did some reading online there found a few suggestions - I have not tried each one - and this suggestion was using a product like Liquid Glass (Z679) to "seal" the ink.



I think sealing the ink is a nice idea, but if I use this technique again I need to find something to make my tip smaller so my line of Liquid Glass is finer. As you can see in the photo, on parts of the image the Liquid Glass line is so thick I was unable to color in parts of the image. In addition, I do not think that I would want to outline a more complex image - that could take a long time. I used a waterbase marker, Crayola SuperTips Markers (I purchased them because I was hoping they would fit in the pen slot of my Cricut Explore), to color the image. The sentiment is from CTMH My Acrylix™ Card Chatter - Christmas (D1388; retired) and was stamped with a Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2105). The embossing folder is from Sizzix and the white card base and papers are from my stash.

My card will be linked to the DigiStamps 4 Joy Challenge #92 - Anything Goes and Decosse's Dynamite Doodles 12 Months of Christmas Card Link Up.

Thanks for making my blog one of those you visited today.

Cluster Stamping

Clearly the Best: Cluster Luster (S01E14) is a video from the Clearly the Best series. The video gives us ideas for using several stamps together on a project, including placing several stamps on the block at one time.



The CTMH Corp. description of the video Clearly the Best: Cluster Luster (S01E14) is "Cluster Luster" features a stamping technique for clustering multiple images in a cute and coordinated design."

I hope today's video inspires you to try cluster stamping. If you are ready to place an order the Shop Now button will take you to my Online Business Address.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to learn more about CTMH products or host an online or in home gathering.

Free To Be Me You Are The Best Card

Here is another card I created using the National Scrapbooking Month Free To Be Me paper collection, May 2014 Stamp Of The Month You've Got A Friend and the workshop guide that CTMH Corporate artists produced.

The workshop guide is free when you order the Free To Be Me Paper collection. You will receive the guide (in PDF format) via e-mail and it will help you make two two-page layouts and three cards.

The card is 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" and is stamped with the May 2014 Stamp of the Month You've Got A Friend. In addition to Free To Be Me and the May SOTM, products I used were 5 1/2" X 4 1/4" White Cards & Envelopes, Value Pack (X254), White Daisy cardstock, Z2114 Cocoa Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Aqua Dots (Z1853), Durables Triangle Studs (Z1928) and 3-D Foam Tape (Z1151). I used a small square of foam tape under the folded corner of Red UV cardstock so it would stay in position better.

There is only one week remaining to take advantage of the Free To Be Me for National Scrapbooking Month promotion. The last day to order it is May 31, 2014 or while supplies last.

If you are in need of additional inspiration for using Free To Be Me, there are many great projects created by CTMH consultants on my Pinterest Board CTMH PROMO Free To Be Me.  If you are ready to place an order, the Shop Now button will take you to my Online Business Address.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this or any other CTMH product.

I am on Facebook and I would love it if you Liked my page.

Collections That Save

Close To My Heart has put together five bundles designed for different types of paper crafters. The bundles are a quick way to purchase some essentials you may want or need to try different types of paper crafting. The bundles would make a great parents-to-be or grandparents-to-be gift so they may start preserving memories or sending heartfelt cards or a retirement gift for a co-worker that has indicated an interest in trying a new hobby. Parents or grandparents may choose to give one of the collections as a present to a child or grandchild they want to introduce to paper crafting. As in creating, your imagination is your only limit.

The Five Fab Collections That Save are:

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Stamping Basics Collection (Z9980) 
 

• Outdoor Denim Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2140)
• New England Ivy Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2135)
• Ruby Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2170)
• Honey Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2162)
• Smokey Plum Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2147)
• My Acrylix™ Quick Cards—Japanese Blossom (A1155)
• My Acrylix™ Quick Cards—Island Greetings (A1157)
• My Acrylix™ Spritz Cleaner (1778)
• My Acrylix™ Stamp Scrubber (Z1782)
• My Acrylix™ Organizer (Z1038)

The Stamping Basics Collection is priced at $65.30 and has a retail value of $70.30.

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Cardmaker's Quick Start Collection (Z9981)

• Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2193)
• Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2195)
• My Acrylix™ Belated Birthday (B1442)
• My Acrylix™ Big Hug (D1584)
• 2" x 2" My Acrylix™ Block (Y1003)
• 2" x 3½" My Acrylix™ Block (Y1009)
• White Card and Envelopes Value Pack (X254)
• Pink Glitter Paper (Z1922)
• Baker’s Twine Paradise Assortment (Z1702)

The Cardmaker's Quick Start Collection is priced at $73.25 and has a retail value of $78.25.

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Stamping Scrapbooker's Delight Collection (Z9982)

• Slate Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2173)
• Desert Sand Exclusive Inks™ Pad (Z2118)
• My Acrylix™ Believe in Yourself (C1574)
• My Acrylix™ Hopscotch Alphabet (E1028)
• My Acrylix™ LOL (A1159)
• 3" x 3" My Acrylix™ Block (Y1006)
• Bonding Memories™ Glue (1512)
• Liquid Glass (Z679)
• VersaMat™ (Z1279)
• Memory Protectors™ Side Load Value Pack (Z1977)
• Memory Protectors™ 4" x 6" Flip Flaps™ (Z4114)
• Paper Fundamentals Basics Assortment (Z1939)

The Stamping Scrapbooker's Delight Collection is priced at $132.10 and has a retail value of $142.10.

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Memory Keeping Fundamentals Collection (Z9983)

• Timberline Paper Packet (X7182B)
• Timberline Complements (X7182C)
• Timberline Assortment (Z3005)
• Skylark Paper Packet (X7177B)
• Skylark Complements (X7177C)
• Skylark Assortment (Z3000)
• Bonding Memories™ Glue (1512)
• Memory Protectors™ Side Load Value Pack (Z1977)
• Cherish™ Scrapbook Program (9038)
• 3-D Foam Tape (Z1151)
• Scallop Border Punch (Z1851)
• Corner Rounder (Z1912)
• Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen (Z1979)
• Metallics Markers (Z1768)
• Sparkles Flourishes (Z1708)
• Teal Shimmer Trim (Z1918)
• Chocolate Woodgrain Washi Tape (Z1930)
• Keyboard Kraft Alphabet (Z1825)

The Memory Keeping Fundamentals Collection is priced at $133.40 and has a retail value of $143.40.

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Essentials Toolkit Collection (Z9984)

• Medium Organizer (Z4139)
• Craft Boxes (Z4137)
• Dot Embossing Folder (Z1924)
• Chevron Embossing Folder (Z1925)
• Stitch Guide (Z1852)
• Piercing Tool Kit (Z1114)
• Sanding Kit (Z1294)
• Bone Folder (Z1204)
• Spray Pen (Z1380)
• Create-a-Shade™ Pearl Paint (Z1039)

The Essentials Toolkit Collection is priced at $71.05 and has a retail value of $76.05.

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The Five Fab Collections That Save are only available through July 31, 2014 or while supplies last.

Purchase any of the above collections and you are eligible to purchase the Stamp Of The Month of only $5. You will find the current SOTM on my OBA under Promotions > Stamp of the Month.

In addition, if you host an online or in home gathering, purchase of the Stamping Basics, Cardmaker's Quick Start or Essentials Toolkit Collections puts you at more than 1/3 of the sales needed to receive $25 in Hostess Rewards. Purchase of the Stamping Scrapbooker's Delight or Memory Keeping Fundamentals Collections puts you at more than 2/3 of the sales needed for $25 in Hostess Rewards. Hostess Rewards allows you to receive select products for FREE. Learn more about Hostess Rewards on my OBA.

If you know what you would like to purchase, any of the above collections or any other CTMH product, click on the button below.

If you have questions about any CTMH product, promotion, hostess rewards, hosting an online or in home gathering or would like to schedule one, contact me.

31 Weeks Until Christmas

This is week two of my goal to create and post at least one Christmas card each week. This is another card I created using the Cricut® Explore and Cricut® Design Space.



This is the Wish You A Merry Christmas card from the ready-to-make projects in Cricut® Design Space. It is very hard to tell in the photo, but the silver is a shimmery smooth finish cardstock from DCWV. I am not sure if the label on the 12" x 12" stack called it Shimmer or Metallic. The blue paper is from my stash.

Once again, I used the scraps from the card to create this second card.



I used the "original" card as a template, glue with a small applicator and tweeters to help me carefully place the cuts through the "stencil" of the "original" card. Both papers are from my stash.

I tried this card in the envelopes I created for my Week 32 cards; the envelope is a little snug from side-to-side so I enlarged it a little, about 1/8", before cutting. I turned again to the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge to embellish the envelopes. I used the Cricut® Silver Metallic Pen and the Cricut® Midnight Antiquities Pen. I wonder how this would look if I wrote on the card twice, once with each. Hmm, I think I will try that soon.

I hope you enjoyed my cards and envelopes and are considering getting a jump start on creating your own Christmas cards. Thanks for making my blog one of those you visited today.

32 Weeks Until Christmas - Follow Up

My new goal is to create at least one new Christmas card each week. Last Friday I showed you one I created using my Cricut® Explore. I also showed you a card I started from the scraps. I finished that card and this is the result.



This card was made from the Christmas Nordic Pattern Card from the ready-to-make cards in Cricut® Design Space scraps. The sentiment is from the Christmas cartridge. I also used some silver glitter glue to add a little pop.

The cards are about 8" x 4" and I needed envelopes for them. I searched Cricut® Design Space for an envelope and selected one that was a rectangular shape. It is from the Just Because Cards. I turned off the lock, that is, stopped the image from being proportional for how the designer created it, to make the envelope exactly the size I needed it.

I was able to get my envelope sized correctly by placing a rectangle on my canvas that is the same size as my card and laying it on top of the envelope. To accommodate the layers on the cards I made sure I could see some of the envelope front between the rectangle and the score lines. When I cut this envelope, I hid the words (in this project they are just notes to myself), the snowflakes (while you cannot see it, the tree is attached to the envelope ready to be "written") and the rectangle used for sizing.

The "paper" I used to create my envelopes is from a huge roll we got at a warehouse club several years ago. We believe the product was called "butcher's paper", but it does not have a waxy feel like freezer paper you would purchase at the store. It makes great envelopes. I am curious what you use to create your envelopes?

Of course I had to decorate the envelopes. The snowflakes were "written" using the Cricut® Gold Metallic Pen and are found on the Teresa Collins - December 25th cartridge. The tree was "written" using the Cricut® Jade Antiquities Pen and is found on the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. Did you notice one of the Creative Feature keys on Stretch Your Imagination is for Silhouettes?



I hope my cards give you some inspiration to get an early start on your Christmas cards. Thanks for stopping by.

Free To Be Me To The Moon Card

There are less than two weeks remaining to take advantage of the Free To Be Me for National Scrapbooking Month promotion. The last day to order it is May 31, 2014 or while supplies last.

As I mentioned on earlier blog posts CTMH Corporate artists created two layouts and three cards using this collection. they also created a workshop guide with cutting and assembly tips that I can share with you. Here is one of the cards from that workshop.

The card is 4 1/2" square and is stamped with the May 2014 Stamp of the Month You've Got A Friend. In addition to the papers in the Free To Be Me collection products I used were White Daisy cardstock, Z2114 Cocoa Exclusive Inks™ Pad and Z1928 Durables Triangle Studs.

There are many great projects created by CTMH consultants on my Pinterest Board CTMH PROMO Free To Be Me if you are looking for more inspiration.  If you are ready to place an order, the Shop Now button will take you to my Online Business Address.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this or any other CTMH product.

I am on Facebook and I would love it if you Liked my page.

Christmas Card - Sleepy Snowman

Not too long ago I was lucky enough to win a contest sponsored by Digistamps4Joy and was able to select an image from their collection. I have been in the mood to create Christmas cards so I selected Festive Snooze. I think the snowman so adorable and looks great napping against the candle.

The papers are from my stash including the Zip Strip from CTMH Ivy Lane (correction - it is not a retired paper yet, it retires July 31, 2014, that is if it does not sell out first). I used water color pencils and a water brush to color the digi. "Happy Holidays" is from the retired CTMH My Acrylix® stamp set Christmas Love (D1492) and was stamped with a New England Ivy (Z2135) Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad.

My card will be linked to the DigiStamps 4 Joy Challenge #92 - Anything Goes and Decosse's Dynamite Doodles 12 Months of Christmas Card Link Up.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you think this snowman is as adorable as I do.

Card for Mom

Before you think I forgot Mother's Day (since I had not posted a card yet), I did not. Though I was up a little late (a lot late) creating this card, it was completed before I saw my mom on Mother's Day.

This is the Mother's Day Floral Bouquet Card from the ready-to-make cards in Cricut® Design Space. For the sentiment inside I used the Cake Basics cartridge. I just love how well the Explore cuts these intricate shapes.

I shopped my stash for all of the cardstock used to create this card. I hope you think the card is as pretty as my mom did. Thanks for stopping by.

Free To Be Me for National Scrapbooking Month

There are only two weeks left (or while supplies last) to take advantage of the CTMH National Scrapbooking Month Promotion Free To Be Me Paper Pack.

Last week I posted some photos I took of the papers, but here is another photo so you can see the entire page:

You can get the Free To Be Me paper collection for only $5 when you place a qualifying order of $50*. That’s $6.95 in savings from its retail value of $11.95. The collection includes 6 B&T Duos™ papers designed exclusively for this promotion, 6 UV-coated, designed cardstock sheets, and 2 sheets of complementary printed vellum. These vellum designs, in polka-dot and feather patterns, are a truly unique touch and will add pizzazz to the already spunky papers. Take advantage of this one-month-only offer right away and make your projects beam with personality—because you’re free to be you!

When you order the Free To Be Me Paper collection I will send you a guide (in PDF format) that will help you make two two-page layouts and three cards.

If you want to make the layouts or cards exactly as shown in the guide, additional supplies you may need are: C1584 My Acrylix™ Feathers, C1575 My Acrylix™ True to Life, E1029 My Acrylix™ Marquee Uppercase, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2103 Bamboo Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z2114 Cocoa Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z2195 Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z1928 Durables Triangle Studs, Z1853 Aqua Dots, Z1297 Edge Distresser, S1405 My Acrylix™ You've Got a Friend (the May 2014 SOTM).

*Offer valid May 1–31, 2014. Shipping/handling is calculated based on the full retail price of the discounted paper collection ($11.95).

There are many great projects created by CTMH consultants on my Pinterest Board CTMH PROMO Free To Be Me if you are looking for more inspiration.  If you are ready to place an order, the Shop Now button will take you to my Online Business Address.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this or any other CTMH product.

I am on Facebook and I would love it if you Liked my page.

32 Weeks Until Christmas

I planned to start posting a weekly Christmas Card on Thursdays, but life seemed to get in the way. I am challenging myself to create a Christmas card each week. After all, as of yesterday, there are only 32 weeks until Christmas.

Since it was already Thursday when I started creating, I needed a quick card. This is the Christmas Nordic Pattern Card from the ready-to-make cards in Cricut Design Space. I used Noah's ABC Animals cartridge for the wording.



The gray cardstock in the background has a heather-like look to it so taking photos last night made that cardstock look green. All paper is from my [large] stash.

I could bear to toss the scraps created when cutting this card, so I cut a second card and applied the "left-overs" to it.



I have not decided how I am going to finish this card yet. I have visions of script in my head. We will see...

I will be linking up my red, gray and black card to the Decosse's Dynamite Doodles 12 Months of Christmas Card Link Up.

I hope you enjoyed my cards. Thanks for stopping by.

Graduation Card

My card is inspired by the Congrats card designed by Jennie Harper found on page 36 of the Summer 2014 issue of CardMaker.

I used my Cricut® Explore and Cricut® Design Space to create this card.

To create the top (yellow) layer use any rectangle shape. I sized my rectangle to be 1/2" shorter and narrower than the card I used. I had to turn off the lock, that is, stop the image from being proportional for how the designer created it, to size the image exactly the size I needed it.

Then I looked for a font that gave the same effect as the font (stamp) on the card that inspired me. I went to dafont.com and browsed until I found one I liked. It was Typography Times by Tipografia Leone.

"Congrats!" was written with two different pens. One was a blue marker from a 10 Pack of Classic Colors (Fine Line) of Crayola Markers and the other was a Silver Metallic Cricut® Explore Pen (the pen that came with my Explore). "Graduate!" was written with the Midnight Antiquity Cricut® Explore Pen.

"2014" was cut using blue paper from Cricut® Birthday Bash cartridge.

I cut the blue layer 1/4 inch larger than the yellow layer and placed them on the front of a blank white card that came with an envelope.

I used cardstock that matched (as close as possible) the school colors of the graduate. This was a quick card to create. I hope the graduate likes the card as much as I had fun creating it.

Thanks for reading my blog post today. If you have a moment, I would love to know what you think about my card.

Monthly Christmas Challenge - Digi Stamps 4 Joy - May 2014

This card was created for the Digi Stamps 4 Joy Monthly Christmas Challenge {May 2104}.

I used the following materials to create the card: King 1 - Time To Go from Digi Stamps 4 Joy printed on Georgia Pacific cardstock then I colored using Pentel Arts Oil Pastels. I used tortillons and blending stumps slightly dampened with water to help blend and shade the colors. I also used the following My Acrylix® stamp sets from Close To My Heart: Blessings of Peace (B1406) - inside sentiment (retired), Christmas Joy (C1520) - "Peace on Earth" (retired) and Mary and Babe (C1562) - star stamped with Honey (Z2162) and Black (Z2105) Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pads. The gold and purple cardstocks and white cardbase are from my stash.

There are two additional kings, King 2 - Best Foot Forward and King 3 - We're Late!, as well as a Nativity Village available at digistamps 4 joy that would make a great tri-fold or z-fold card.

edited to add: I have linked up my card to the Digi Stamps 4 Joy May 2014 Monthly Christmas Challenge and Decosse's Dynamite Doodles 12 Months of Christmas Card Link Up (which I just learned about today - after writing this post).

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Celebrating National Scrapbooking Month with Free To Be Me

As I mentioned on May 1, the May 2014 CTMH Promotion for National Scrapbooking Month is the Free to Be Me Paper Collection. Here is a layout created with the collection:

I received the Free To Be Me paper pack and it is even more wonderful in person. Here are photos of the 6 UV-coated, designed cardstock sheets and 6 B&T Duos™ papers in the collection. As you can see, the UV-coating is only on one side so if the design does not work with the project you are creating, you can use the "plain" side. But how can you call these wonderful colors plain?

The specialty colors in the Free To Be Me paper pack are Gold, Mint, Peach, Red, Tan, Teal, White Daisy.

The order of the cardstock/B&T Duos™ in the photo below are (clockwise starting in the upper left): Teal, Teal/Red B&T, Red, Multi/Peach B&T, Mint and Arrows/Feathers B&T.

There are only two sheets of printed vellum in the pack, but I wanted you to see that you could use the back side of the Gold Polka Dot Vellum. The reverse looks like a matte silver dot. I have placed Mint and White Daisy cardstock behind the vellum  in the hopes that the pattern would be easier to see. The printed vellum sheets are Feathers and Gold Polka Dot and I include the reverse of the Gold Polka Dot in the photo.

If you want to view larger photos of the papers in the Free To Be Me paper pack, click on the photos or links above. In addition, there have been several projects shared online using this paper pack (some also using the May SOTM) that I have pinned to my board CTMH PROMO Free To Be Me.

You can get the Free To Be Me paper collection for only $5 when you place a qualifying order of $50*. That’s $6.95 in savings from its retail value of $11.95. The collection includes 6 B&T Duos™ papers designed exclusively for this promotion, 6 UV-coated, designed cardstock sheets, and 2 sheets of complementary printed vellum. These vellum designs, in polka-dot and feather patterns, are a truly unique touch and will add pizzazz to the already spunky papers. Take advantage of this one-month-only offer right away and make your projects beam with personality—because you’re free to be you!

When you order the Free To Be Me Paper collection I will send you a guide that will help you make the layout pictured above, a second two-page layout and three cards.

If you want to make the layouts or cards exactly as shown in the guide, additional supplies you may need are: C1584 My Acrylix™ Feathers, C1575 My Acrylix™ True to Life, E1029 My Acrylix™ Marquee Uppercase, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2103 Bamboo Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z2114 Cocoa Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z2195 Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Pad, Z1928 Durables Triangle Studs, Z1853 Aqua Dots, Z1297 Edge Distresser, S1405 My Acrylix™ You've Got a Friend (the May 2014 SOTM).

*Offer valid May 1–31, 2014. Shipping/handling is calculated based on the full retail price of the discounted paper collection ($11.95).

If you are ready to place an order Click the Shop Now button to reach my Online Business Address. If you have any questions about this promotion or any CTMH product or would like to schedule a Home or Online Gathering, contact me.

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