Par!adise Paper Flowers - Kicked Up a Notch!

Hello, it's time for me to go to bed, but I just had to post a couple of pictures of these embellishments I put together last night. I was working on the cards for my next Scrapbooking 101 and came up with these.  In the end, I didn't use them for my cards, but they were a lot of fun to make.

Aren't they cute? I started with the Creme Brulee Blossoms in the Close To My Heart Paradise Paper Flowers and sponged the edges with Brown Bag ink to give them a little added dimension.

I had some trouble finding just the right center. I found a bag of CTMH wooden buttons that were the right size, but they just didn't have the zing I was looking for. Digging through my supplies, I found a Krylon Pale Gold Leafing Pen that I had picked up at Scrapbook Expo last fall. I colored the buttons andgot just the effect I wanted. I finished them off by threading the button with Chocolate Waxy Flax and attaching it to the flower with a glue dot.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. Now I just need to build a project around them.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the cards for S101.







My Lucy Banner

On February 1, Close To My Heart kicked off a brand new catalog, the 2012 Spring/Summer Idea Book.  After all these years as a customer and then a consultant, I'm still thrilled to see the new paper and new products each time a catalog is released. 

This time, the design crew outdid themselves and named TWO of the new paper packs after friends of mine --- Stella and Lucy!

I haven't had a chance to try out Stella yet, but I just had to recreate the banner shown on page 26 for my friend Lucy. If you look hard, you'll see a few differences between theirs and mine, but I definitely drew inspiration from that picture.

The banner was so easy. We have a brand new chipboard banner -- 10 pieces in 4 different shapes -- and it matches shapes on the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.  I also cut out scallops from the AP cartridge and followed the directions for Yo-Yo Flowers on page 27. The name is spelled out with our new chipboard letters -- I used a brayer to roll Pear ink on them, but they also coordinate with the AP cartridge.

But enough talk -- here are some pictures:

Isn't it fun?

Cards for Scrapbook 101

Hello! Well, it's almost time again for Scrapbook 101 and since I actually have the cards ready AND have taken pictures of them, I thought I'd share.

I usually don't do cute, but I just love this Thanksgiving stamp from Close To My Heart. I stamped it with Archival Black ink and then colored it with the CTMH markers.

Here's my variation of a card I found on a blog hop through Pam Klassen's blog: http://p-inks.blogspot.com/2011/10/dreamin-paper-trails-hop.html.  I just love the Dreamin' paper and that bicycle!  Once again -- stamped with Archive Black and colored with CTMH markers.  The little bracketed shape is cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (available exclusively from CTMH).

This little card is made with Believe paper and the Holiday Magic stamp set (which was the CTMH Stamp of the Month for October.) The tree is popped up on foam tape to give a little dimension -- and of course there are a red sparkles.

My final card was inspired by a card designed by Laurel Seabrook. I really had to search her blog to find it, but here's the link: http://want2scrap.blogspot.com/2008/10/dreaming-of-pink-christmas.html. 

I used the CTMH stamp set, Holiday Wishes.  It is so pretty and only available until the end of November.  Check the end of this post for details on how to get it.  (Hint - It's a really good deal!)  One of the joys of this stamp set is that the images are also on the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge -- so no fussy cutting and all the lines are straight! Of course this card is sparkled up with Bitty Sparkles. 

If you're interested in making these cards -- they are the project I'll be presenting this week at Scrapbook 101, Wednesday, November 16, from 7:00 - 9:30.  If you need details or directions, drop me an email at montanabaitshop@hotmail.com.

As promised above, here's the scoop on the the Holiday Wishes stamp set. When you place a minimum order of $25 in My Acrylix® stamp sets in November, you can purchase a new D-size Holiday Wishes stamp set for only $5! That’s significant savings off the full retail value of $17.95. And here’s a bonus: many of the images in the set coordinate with our Cricut® Art Philosophy cartridge for added cutting and stamping fun! Offer valid November 1 (9:00 am MDT)–November 30 (11:59 pm MST).

Contact me if you'd like to place an order -- or you can order online by selecting the shopping cart icon from this site.  I just love this stamp set and I know you'll enjoy it too.

Happy Stampin!