Happy Birthday Slider Card

I could not leave this card unfinished a moment longer. As soon as I got home from work (and took care of my cats, made dinner, cleaned up, etc.) I sat down to finish it.

I added a "pre-sentiment" and a stamped, fussy cut image.

And here is how the card looks "open".

In addition to the supplies listed when I shared how this card was created and the CDS link, I used the following items:

• 12" x 12" White Daisy Cardstock (1385)
• Hollyhock Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2128)
• Gyspy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2190)
• Slate Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2173)
• My Acrylix™ Build-a-Cake Stamp Set (D1618)
• 3-D Foam Tape (Z1151)
• Thin 3-D Foam Tape (Z2060)
• Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection (Z1686) - banner - CDS image #M471A5 - hide contour
• Supplies not from Close To My Heart: Cricut® Design Space, Cricut® Explore, Cake Basics cartridge (text on banner), Violet pen from the Cricut Explore® Metallic Pen Set, Glass Cutting Mat, Craft Knife

I am a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant and most of the linked products above may be ordered from my Online Business Address. The list of other products and links to them (if any) are for your convenience only; I am not an affiliate of any other retail outlet. If the craft projects I share inspire you and you would like to use Close To My Heart products to create them I would be grateful if you placed an order on my OBA.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you like my completed card.

Happy Birthday Slider Card

I am working with a new stamp set for a blog post next week and I had the idea to have one of the stamped images move across the card. I did not want to use the Penny Sliced Technique because I wanted to "control" the image more, that is, I did not want the image to rotate. This is the card I created to test the Cricut® Design Space file I created and make sure I understand the assembly instructions.

A search for slider card tutorial yielded many results. I looked at a few posts before I decided to try the Pull Slider Card Tutorial for Repeat Impressions Stamps by For the Love of Cardmaking by Deonna Bemish. I do not have some of the punches that Deonna mentioned in her post, so I decided to turn to Cricut® Design Space and my Cricut® Explore. I used Deonna's instructions for assembly.

This is what my Cricut® Design Space file looks like (without the embellishments). I used only free "Insert Shapes" images to create the file. You will find my file here if you would like to use it. If you use the file, I ask that you leave me a comment letting me know if you found it useful and that, rather than sharing the file, you direct people here for the link.

Here the the pieces I used to create the card (the brown in the upper left is the foam pad from the tool kit used to shape the flower):

The "half-circles" are applied to the slider mechanism (front and back), the foam tape is applied to the card back and the "round" pink item in the top middle is the mechanism that makes the flower slide on my card.

Here is my card with the slider in (or the card in the closed position):

And here is my card with the slider out (or the card in the open position) so the greeting can be read:

I was very pleased with how easy this card was to put together. The only place I had to trim was on the mechanism that makes the card slide. Where I overlapped the circles and welded I could have overlapped a little less and created a "skinnier waist" (I think we all wish for that). I just used a craft knife to slice a mm on either side of the "waist". I recreated that piece in my CDS file, but did not cut the file again to test.

I do think I will go back and decorate the front a bit more before sending it to someone, but first I need to work on the blog post featuring that new stamp set.

I used several supplies from my stash to create my cards:

• Scallops (item #SD14010) from Summer Days designed by Bella Road for Echo Park Paper Co. - my friends from CC might recognize this
• pink and green cardstock
• Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive
• bling
• Sizzix Accessory - Susan's Garden Tool Kit inspired by Susan Tierney-Cockburn
• Close To My Heart products:
• Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pads in the following colors:
• Cotton Candy (Z2193) - for the edges of the flowers
• Olive (Z2137) - to ink the grass because my green cardstock did not coordinate as well as I would have liked
• Topiary (Z2155) - to stamp the sentiment
• My Acrylix™ Stamp Sets:
• Joyful Birthday (B1419)
• Sponge Daubers (Z726) or Value Pack of 12 (Z1938)
• Thin 3-D Foam Tape (Z2060)
• Cricut® Artbooking Collection (Z1906) - grass border - CDS image #M46110
• Cricut® products:
• Cricut® Design Space
• Cricut® Explore
• Sophisticated cartridge - flower - CDS image #M45BD7

I am a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant and most of the linked products above may be ordered from my Online Business Address. The list of other products and links to them (if any) are for your convenience only; I am not an affiliate of any other retail outlet. If the craft projects I share inspire you and you would like to use Close To My Heart products to create them I would appreciate it if you choose to order from me.

Thanks for visiting today. I would love to know what you think of this card and/or CDS file.

Promotions Ending May 31

I am posting today because there are a few promotions that are ending on May 31. The first is something I am doing on my own. I am giving away the Shower Flowers stamp set from Seasonal Expressions 2. I posted the details on the Shower Flowers Giveaway post on May 5. No purchase is necessary to win.

The May 2015 Stamp of the Month, Just Sayin’, will no longer be available for purchase after May 31.

See my CTMH May 2015 Stamp of the Month: Just Sayin’ post for additional details about the stamp set and the suggested acrylic block sizes. I created a card for the Just Sayin' Stamp of the Month Blog Hop and have a Pinterest Board CTMH 2015 05 May SOTM Just Sayin’.

Also unavailable after May 31 are the National Scrapbooking Month paper pack

and stamp set.

I created two cards for the National Scrapbooking Month Blog Hop. You will find additional inspiration on the Taste of Summer Pinterest Board. If you order the paper pack or stamp set I will send you two PDFs; one with cardmaking ideas and one with scrapbook layouts.

Today's post updated to add: As a special offer to my customers, when you purchase the National Scrapbooking Month Taste of Summer My Acrylix® Stamp Set (CC1039) at a Gathering or from my OBA during May 2015 I will send you as many die cuts as I can fit on one sheet of 12" x 12" White Daisy cardstock. The cuts you will receive include the label cut to fit the phrase "Orange You Sweet" and cut to fit the frame and the banner to fit the phrase "Yummy" — at least 12 of each die cut.

I would like to remind you when you place an order at my Online Business Address you will be promoted to add a free Idea Book to your order (if you have not already done so). I am "old school" and I much prefer to look at catalogs "in hand" rather than on-line.

If you are ready to place an order or would like to research any product, the Shop Now button will take you there.

If you have any product or promotion questions, do not hesitate to email me. You will also find me on Facebook at Brenda's Paper Crafts.

Card for 40 (and more) Weeks Until Christmas 2015

Below are my cards for six weeks worth of Christmas cards: 40, 39, 36, 35, 34 and 33 weeks (I managed to eek out cards for weeks 38 and 37). I lost my way a bit and had not been creating at least one Christmas card each week. Life is just too busy. I am certain I am not the only one that feels that way. Between what we have to do (work for pay, sleep to remain healthy, work at home doing childcare, cleaning, cooking, clean-up, etc.) and what we want to do (craft, travel, etc.), it seems like there are not enough hours in the day.

The 40 weeks card should have been posted as long ago as Friday, March 20. Wow, that was 8 weeks ago. And posting 6 weeks worth of cards only takes me to Friday, May 8 so I have not caught up yet. Since I knew I need to knock out several Christmas cards quickly, I decided to try this one-sheet wonder idea I have been hearing about for months (or longer), but had not yet tried.

A quick one sheet wonder search yielded many results. For my first try of this idea I decided to go with the template and instructions by Deb Valder at Unique One Sheet Wonder using Springtime Hello with Deb Valder. I selected Deb's template because it starts with a 6" x 6" focal and creates 6 cards.

I ended up not following Deb's card templates exactly because I selected a directional print (I did not watch her video before cutting). In addition, I did not find her post with the still photos until my cards were assembled, but due to the directional print, I would not have been able to follow the them exactly anyway.

I used several supplies from my stash to create my cards:

• 8.5" x 11" Georgia Pacific white cardstock
• Red and grey cardstock
• 6" x 6" Winter Park paper pad by Lori Whitlock from Echo Park Paper Co.
• Close To My Heart products:
• Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pads in the following colors:
• Slate (Z2173)
• Cranberry (Z2116)
• New England Ivy (Z2135)
• My Acrylix™ Stamp Sets:
• Be Jolly (B1455) - Hostess Rewards
• Merry & Bright (C1510) - retired
• Christmas Joy (C1520) - retired
• Santa Claus (C1567)
• Christmas Love (D1492) - retired
• Christmas Post (D1610)
• Frosted Cardmaking WOTG (D1562) - retired
• Corner Rounder (Z1912)
• 3L® E-Z Dots® Adhesive (Z3022)
• Thin 3-D Foam Tape (Z2060)

I am a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant and the linked products above may be ordered from my Online Business Address. The list of other products and links to them (if any) are for your convenience only; I am not an affiliate of any other retail outlet. If the craft projects I share inspire you and you would like to use Close To My Heart products to create them I would appreciate it if you choose to order from me.

Thanks for visiting today.37

My Crush™ For Him and For Her: A Book for Both

Or should I say a book for each? If you wondered about the latest My Crush™ Books introduced on pages 30 and 31 of Seasonal Expressions 2, this video will give you a peek inside the hardcover, spiral bound books and ideas for using sheets from the book on 12" x 12" layouts and greeting cards.



The CTMH Corporate description of the video is "Close To My Heart’s My Crush™ books make great homes for your memorabilia! They come with a variety of beautifully designed papers and provide just the right backdrop for your keepsakes. See them for yourself!"

The items featured in the video are:

• My Crush™ For Him Book (Z3080)
• My Crush™ For Her Book (Z3081)

I would like to remind you that you can still enter my giveaway for the Shower Flowers stamp set (C1612). You will find full details on my May 5 blog post.

You will also find me on Facebook at Brenda's Paper Crafts.

Thanks for visiting today.

Taste of Summer Blog Hop

Welcome to the National Scrapbooking Month Taste of Summer Blog Hop. There are approximately 40 bloggers participating in this hop. This hop is one big circle so if you just keep clicking on the link (typically near the bottom of the post) to visit the next blogger you will eventually be brought back to where you started.

For National Scrapbooking Month Close To My Heart is offering both a paper back (shown in the blog badge above) and a stamp set. The paper pack is only $8.95, no qualifying purchase necessary, and includes 12 sheets of B&T Duos™ Papers — two each of six designs. They were exclusively designed for National Scrapbooking Month.

The stamp set is D-size and includes 15 stamps. The stamp set is $17.95. The images outlined in red coordinate with cuts from the Cricut® Artiste Collection (Z1790).

You should have arrived here from ***Clearly Cards by Jeanie Burch***. If you get lost along the way, a complete list of participants is listed at Melinda Everitt's If You Bling It.

I was excited to play with my new stamp set and a little intimidated to cut into my beautiful paper (I might have to purchase another package so I can hoard some sheets, do you ever do that?) so I started by creating a card just with stamps and cardstock:

The lemon and lime that are not part of the border were double stamped, that is, I inked the image and stamped, then repeated. I used sponge daubers to ink the phrase to get a bit of an ombré effect. If you are wondering how I stamped the phrase, since the stamps are bendable, I wrapped the part I did not want to stamp around the block's edge, inked, stamped then re-aligned my stamp on the block for the remaining word. I inked the edges of Canary cardstock with Topiary ink, but it might be too subtle to see in the photo.

I really wanted to create a card that highlighted at least one of the beautiful papers in the pack so I flipped though the CTMH How-To Program books and found something that jumped out at me. My second card was inspired by the card on page 72 of Originals Card Confidence Program™ (9036); the pattern is Clean Cut™ on page 105 which was designed as a 7" x 5" card, but I modified it to fit a 5 ½" X 4 ¼" card base.

I used the rock and roll technique to ink the berries, but I wasn't sure they stood out enough from the pink B&T paper. I was going to change entirely to the flowers inked in Honey, they remind me of strawberry blossoms, from Flowers for Mom, but I started playing around with the fussy cuts and came up with the blossoms and berries combined.

The die cut frame was not intended to be a Cricut® cut (the red outline is around the phrase "Orange You Sweet" not the frame), but I played around with the image in Cricut® Design Space and found settings that I thought work well. I blogged about my process on May 4.

Before you visit ***Pam's Clearly Crafty Corner***, additional information about how my project was created is below.

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

• Taste of Summer Paper Pack (CC1038)
• National Scrapbooking Month Taste of Summer My Acrylix® Stamp Set (CC1039)
  
• My Acrylix™ Flowers for Mom Stamp Set (B1473); Flowers for Mum (B1474) would also work
• 5 ½" X 4 ¼" White Cards & Envelopes, Value Pack (X254)
• 12" x 12" White Daisy Cardstock (1385)
• 12" x 12" Canary Cardstock (X5772)
• 12" x 12" Topiary Cardstock (X5635)
• Canary Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2643)
• Topiary Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2155)
• Hollyhock Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2128)
• Cranberry Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2116)
• Honey Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2162)
• Sponge Daubers (Z726) or Value Pack of 12 (Z1938)
• Scallop Border Punch (Z1851)
• Bonding Memories™ Glue Pen (Z553)
• 3L® E-Z Dots® Adhesive (Z3022)
• Thin 3-D Foam Tape  (Z2060)
• Originals Card Confidence Program™ (9036)
• Cricut® Artiste Collection (Z1790)
• to fit the frame stamp - this has to be done in Cricut® Design Space or Cricut® Craft Room: DS code #M39B85 or Accent 3 (without shift) on page 33 of the handbook; image proportions unlocked and size set to a height of 1⅞" and a width of 2¾"; if you would like to use my Cricut® Design Space file, you will find it here; if you would like to use my Cricut® Craft Room file, you can download it here, just click "download" to save the file to your computer
• Supplies not from Close To My Heart: Cricut® Design Space, Cricut® Explore, Glass Cutting Mat, Craft Knife

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.

If you have a moment, please leave a comment letting me know what think of my cards. So you do not have to scroll up, the next stop on the hop is ***Pam's Clearly Crafty Corner***. Thanks again for hopping with us.

May is National Scrapbooking Month—Taste of Summer

Below is a video introduction to the National Scrapbooking Month—Taste of Summer Paper Packet. In the video we are shown layouts and cards created with the paper packet.



The CTMH Corporate description of the video is "Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month 2015 with a little Taste of Summer for only $8.95!"

The item featured in the video is the Taste of Summer Paper Pack (CC1038), however there is also a Taste of Summer My Acrylix® Stamp Set (CC1039).

When you order the paper packet at a Gathering on on my OBA, I will send you PDF instructions for the scrapbooking and cardmaking workshops shown in the video. When you follow the cutting diagrams, you should be able to create four layouts using the paper pack and other supplies you may already have. The cardmaking workshop allows you to create up to 24 cards (four each of three designs).

Here are the additional supplies used in the scrapbooking workshops so you can check the supplies you have on hand:

• My Acrylix™ Documenting Moments Stamp Set (D1647)
• 12" x 12" White Daisy Cardstock (1385)
• Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2105)
• White Shimmer Trim (Z3024)
• Sequins Silver Assortment (Z2013)
• Thin 3-D Foam Tape (Z2060)
• Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen (Z1979)
• various sizes of My Acrylix® Blocks
  

And the additional supplies used in the cardmaking workshop:

• My Acrylix™ Finding the Words Stamp Set (D1646)
• 5 1/2" X 4 1/4" White Cards & Envelopes, Value Pack (X254)
• Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2105)
• Canary Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2643)
• Sunset Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2191)
• Silver Shimmer Trim (Z1799)
• Bitty Sparkles (Z1263)
• Thin 3-D Foam Tape (Z2060)
• various sizes of My Acrylix® Blocks

Share your creations on social media with the hashtag #CTMHTOS which will give you the chance to win giveaways featuring the Taste of Summer stamp set. Details are mentioned near the end of the video.

If you would like to learn how you can earn free and 50% off products, email me with your contact information so we may discuss your hosting an in-home or on-line gathering.

You will also find me on Facebook at Brenda's Paper Crafts.

Shower Flowers Giveaway

As I mentioned in my newsletter (send me a note if you would like to subscribe), I recently attended a CTMH event, Making Connections in Liverpool, NY, and at that event I received a stamp set that I already ordered. Since I do not need a duplicate, I thought I would make May a little exciting for my newsletter subscribers and blog followers and give the stamp set away.

The stamp set is My Acrylix™ Shower Flowers (C1612). It debuted in Seasonal Expressions 2 (link opens in new tab) on April 1 and can be viewed on page 11.

You can enter the drawing two ways. You can also be entered into the drawing multiple times. The entry period runs from 12:01am Tuesday, May 5 through 11:59pm on May 31, 2015. How you will be entered:

• One entry for commenting on this blog post, you may comment any day during the entry period however, please comment on this post one time only; if you post as anonymous, please "sign" your post with your initials or first name and last initial so I can give you credit
• One entry for each $10 you purchase at a Gathering or on my OBA

I currently have 97 blog followers with Google Friend connect. If I break 110 before the month ends I will add a little something extra to the package mailed to the winner. In addition, I have 79 likes on my Brenda's Paper Crafts Facebook page. If I break 100 likes by May 31, I will add a second something extra to the package mailed to the winner. If I break both milestones, I will draw a second winner who will receive a new to-be-determined stamp set.

There is no purchase is necessary, nor do you have to be a newsletter subscriber, blog follower or like my Facebook page Brenda's Paper Crafts to be entered, but as mentioned above, purchases will earn you extra entries.

This giveaway is not sponsored by Close To My Heart, Facebook, Google or any other entity. I am sorry to my friends outside the USA, but this giveaway is only open to those in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and U.S. military bases as that is where I am an authorized CTMH Independent Consultant.

I will complete the drawing on Monday, June 1 and will post the winner's name on my blog on Tuesday, June 2. The winner(s) will have until midnight on Thursday, June 4 to email me to claim their prize; if I do not receive a message an alternate winner(s) will be selected and their name(s) posted on Friday, June 5. The winnings will be mailed via USPS at my expense to the address provided (or hand delivered if the winner is local to me).

The Shop Now button will take you to my Online Business Address where you can make a purchase.

If you have any product or promotion questions, do not hesitate to email me. You will also find me on Facebook at Brenda's Paper Crafts.

Taste of Summer Cricut® Artiste Compatible Cuts

When I was working with my new National Scrapbooking Month Taste of Summer My Acrylix® Stamp Set (CC1039) I ran into some questions when cutting one of the Cricut® Artiste Collection (Z1790) coordinating die cuts.

The stamp images outlined in red coordinate with the Cricut® Artiste Collection (but the carrier sheet is printed with B&W). On the stamp carrier sheet I was reading the outline on the left as intended for the frame stamp rather than the "Orange You Sweet" phrase. I cut Accent 3 (without shift) on page 33 of the handbook (Cricut® Design Space code #M39B85) at a height of 1¼" as indicated on the carrier sheet and it was obviously too small for the frame (but it fits the phrase stamp perfectly as shown in the photo below).

Now that I have seen the carrier sheet in color on my OBA, I see the happy error I made. I say happy error because I believe can adjust the die cut using Cricut® Design Space or Cricut® Craft Room to stamp the frame on a die cut too.

My second attempt to cut the shape to coordinate with the frame stamp I set the height to 1¾". As you can see in the photo above, it was pretty good top to bottom, but I had some extra white space on the left and right.

For my third attempt I unlocked the image in Cricut® Design Space and I set the height to 1¾" and the width to 2¾". While I think the results are pretty good, I have since decided I am going to make the height a little bigger so the amount of white space on the top and bottom similar to what it is on the left and right. Come back on Thursday, May 7 when I post my creation for the National Scrapbooking Month Taste of Summer blog hop; I might be sharing my newly sized label die cut.

As you can see in my photo above, when I set the height at ½" for Accent 4+Shift on page 35 of the handbook (Cricut®Design Space code #M46A23), the Yummy banner stamp fit great on the die cut.

I played with the sizing a bit more and decided that I like the size set to a height of 1⅞" and a width of 2¾" like the Sunset stamped frame below. It is amazing how much difference ⅛" makes.

I like that there is about the same amount of white space around the stamped image with the Sunset ink. If you would like to use my Cricut® Design Space file, you will find it here. If you would like to use my Cricut® Craft Room file, you can download it here [link removed since Cricut no longer supports Cricut® Craft Room]; click download to save the file to your computer (this is my first time sharing a CCR file for you to import, I hope it works well).

As a special offer to my customers, when you purchase the National Scrapbooking Month Taste of Summer My Acrylix® Stamp Set (CC1039) at a Gathering or from my OBA during May 2015 I will send you as many die cuts as I can fit on one sheet of 12" x 12" White Daisy cardstock. The cuts you will receive include the label cut to fit the phrase "Orange You Sweet" and cut to fit the frame and the banner to fit the phrase "Yummy" — at least 12 of each die cut.

Please support my Close To My Heart business if you find information I post here helpful. The Shop Now button will take you to my Online Business Address where you can make a purchase. Your purchases (and comments) provide me the encouragement to continue to create samples, cheat sheets and tutorials.

If you have any product or promotion questions, do not hesitate to email me. You will also find me on Facebook at Brenda's Paper Crafts.

A Closer Look at Taste of Summer

Let's take a closer look at the National Scrapbooking Month Special Taste of Summer.

When I opened my pack of paper I fell in love. I already knew I would like the papers from seeing the the photos I shared Thursday, but when I got a better look at the backs and zip strips, oh my.

The Taste of Summer Paper Pack (CC1038) has six different papers and you will receive two of each. In the photos I took, the side highlighted in the Corporate provided photos is on the left.

Here's a better look at the Taste of Summer My Acrylix® Stamp Set (CC1039):

The stamp is compatible with the Cricut® Artiste Collection (Z1790).

If you are browsing my OBA and are wondering where to find the Taste of Summer options, you will find them under Shop > Special Promotions.

While the colors are off-palette, the Corporate artists report they have had success pairing Taste of Summer with any neutrals and the following colors: Canary, Gypsy, Hollyhock, Honey, Juniper, Sunset, Sweet Leaf, Thistle and Topiary.

I will be participating in a blog hop featuring Taste of Summer. Be sure to come back on Thursday, May 7 to see what I created. Thanks for visiting today.