Crafting for sanity? Or insanity?: Seasonal Expressions 1 Blog Hop

Welcome to our Close to My Heart Seasonal Expressions 1 Blog Hop! We will be showcasing items from our new Seasonal Expressions catalog with various projects created by talented Close To My Heart consultants. If you are visiting from Melissa’s blog then you are on the right track, if not please start at the beginning with our hostess Carol.

Cover Seasonal Expressions 1

For today's hop I created a two cards. On my first card I used the stamp as it is.

The Leafy Congrats stamp coordinates with the largest die in the Thin Cuts—Basic Circles set (the shapes are 2½", 2", 1½" and 1"). Even though our stamps are clear, I tend to stamp then cut the shape out. I use washi tape to hold the die in place while running it though my Cuttlebug. I happened to have a set of Spellbinders Nestabilities to cut larger circles, so I cut a Willow circle at 2¾"

On my second card I masked the word and stamped my own sentiment from Sending Smiles (D1708) which is one of the three D-sized stamp sets that comes with the Cricut® Flower Market Collection.

Here's how I went about creating a mask for this stamp. I stamped and cut as usual, then I used a craft knife and glass cutting mat to cut around the word.

When I use the stamp to create something with a new greeting, I place both pieces of cardstock down (this also assures me that the piece of cardstock I am using is large enough). Then I hold the word in place while lifting the larger piece of cardstock from where I want to stamp. I line up the words, stamp and then die cut.

I cut the cardstock before stamping the sentiment. I feel that gives me better accuracy when deciding if a sentiment will fit into the space.

This is the other image I stamped planning to create a card with the Hello Lovely papers, but I ran out of time.

I am loving how this stamp can be used with many different greetings.

All supplies are from Close To My Heart except where noted:

My Acrylix™ Stamp Sets: Leafy Congrats (A1203); Happy to Be Friends (C1605 - the French version is C1605F and the Spanish version is C1605S); Sending Smiles (D1708)
12" X 12" Cardstock in the following colors: White Daisy (1385); Willow (X5784)
Paper packets: Dreamin' Big (X7218B), Some Kinda Wonderful (X7217B)
Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad in the following colors: Fern (Z2850)
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Markers in the following colors: Pastel Green (Z2459), Leaf Green (Z2454), Vivid Green (Z2466), Sap Green (Z2463)
Watercolor Pencils (3505)
Waterbrush—Small Round (Z3224)
Shimmer Brush—Gold (Z3316)
Foil Tape Gold (Z3129)
3L® E-Z Dots® Adhesive (Z3022)
3-D Foam Tape (Z1151)
Thin Cuts—Basic Circles (Z3318)
Supplies not from Close To My Heart: Cuttlebug, craft knife, glass cutting mat

If you are not already working with a CTMH Independent Consultant, you may purchase all of the supplies I used at my Online Business Address.

Before you head to Carol, I would be thrilled if you took a moment to let me know what you think of my cards. I hope you are finding many ideas for new the products in SE1.

Here is a copy of the blog hop list with a direct link to each blog post: