Embossing Knowledge with CTMH's new Embossing Envelopes

In today's video, Jill shares with us some neat features of our new Embossing folders and some techniques when embossing.  I now understand why sometimes my embossed image isn't as crisp as I'd like -- I embossed against the grain!



The examples Jill shared with us at the end of video did not show details really well. However, several of these examples are in the Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book.  Let me tell you where those samples can be found:

The Happy Layout:I thought this was in there, but I can't find it.  : (
Big Ideas Kraft Album: page 130 (and that's where the 5 folders are located)
The owl card: page 57.  And the middle card on that page is also embossed with the chevron folder
Cute chevron stamped card can't be found in the book either.  Waah.
Hello Hello Hello card: page 95 (at the top -- it took me twice to find it!)

In my search for the video samples, I came upon more great samples of embossing folders not shown in the video, but are in the idea book:
"One of a Kind" Pennant Frame on page 39
"Thanks You're..." card on page 65 (with the Art Philosophy Collection)
"G'day" card on page 90
"Friends Forever" card on page 91
"The Celebrate Love" card on 99 is an Artbooking Cartridge cut - nice try, though  : ) 
"Bee Happy" and "Oh happy day" cards on page 120

I just got two folders  the other day, and am looking forward to working with them next week.  I'll keep you posted!  Go look at the samples and imagine what you can create with your folders!

Alright, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Close to my Heart is giving a FREE embossing folder with every two cardstock bundles you buy.  And there is no limit.  So if you need a refill on cardstock, buy two through February 28, 2014 and get your choice of embossing folder!

Scrapbook Birthday Card Holders

I have a confession to make.  I am a pseudo hoarder.  At least with some things.  I like to keep cards I receive.  I don't know what I'll do with them -- more realistically, what my kids will do with them.  : )

I've started my girls off well, though, by keeping their birthday cards in their birthday photo albums.  One day they'll be able to show their children what cards used to look like in the olden days of paper.  And if they are still friends with some of the givers, they can both laugh at the handwriting. Who knows, the handwriting in the card may be better than currently!

These pockets are simple.  They are Treasure Pockets- Basic from Reflections.  The sides and the bottom of the pocket are glued to the Outdoor Denim base.  This is Lindsey's 5th birthday party when Snow White was able to join us.

I've attached the invitation and the thank you to the front of the pocket.  For the thank you, everyone got this picture and Lindsey wrote here message on the back.  Okay, I wrote the message and Lindsey signed it.  No, actually, I think Lindsey wrote the note too (I'm getting old and I can't remember)!

This pocket was put together with silver brads and sassy strand (long ago).  You can see the cards poking out above the pocket.  Another page holds her invitation and thank you.

It's made from two sheets of Background and Texture paper -- when the sheets were thin.  But since the page stays in a page protector, it's not a problem.





So don't be afraid to keep your items!  It's a matter of putting them in a logical place.  For the birthday cards while the girls are still having birthday parties, they'll get their own special pocket each year.  What the girls will do with them, who knows?  But while I'm still around, they're keeping them!  : )

Embellishing Burlap Bags

An overlooked item in our Close to my Heart idea book are the burlap bags.  These can be used for treats, invitations, or small gifts to a neighbor, teacher, or co-worker.  Carly is back to show us how simple it is to dress these bags up.




I know, the upside down visual was an oopsie!  But did you see how nice the bags can look?!  Carly mentioned our alcohol markers, but you can also use our pigment ink too (and that's a great choice for stamping directly onto the burlap).

Made from Scratch (C1582) found on page 45 of the Spring/Summer 2014 idea book would be a great selection to stamp directly onto the burlap.

I know you were thinking, "invitations?!" when you read the opening statement.  How cute would it be if you're having a BBQ themed party or family reunion to use the bags as an invitation?   You could stamp Fancy Fair (B1440) - page 44 - onto the bag and include the invite with some bandana inside the bag.  Better yet, accent the bag with the Jubilee Textiles (Z1971) (as shown on page 45). 

Oh, my brain is starting to hurt from the possibilities!

3 Dimensional Owl Sample

I told you I was going for the owl on page 86 of Artbooking Cricut Cartridge, didn't I?!

Here are all of the pieces cut out that I will need for my project.  The owl bases are Saddle cardstock.  The owl overlay is Balloon Ride B&T from the paper packet; the eyes are the reverse side.  The tree and branch is from Kraft paper, the leaves are Juniper, and the saying is Sorbet.

Before I go on, I have to confess that I used Cricut Craft Room to cut these pieces out.  As much as I love my Artbooking cartridge, it gives me grief sometimes when it comes to real dial size and proportional sizing.  In this case, I couldn't get it to cut my owls at 3.5".

Once all these pieces were cut out, I sponged the owl body pieces with Saddle ink, leaves with Juniper, the tree and branch with Desert Sand, the saying with Sorbet, and the eyes with Crystal Blue.

Let me show you the finished project, and then I'll get back to more details.

Before I glued the tree to our 6" x 6" canvas, I sponged that area with Desert Sand.  I wanted to have the tree look like one.  : )

The overlay tree is cut at 6" x 2", and is found on page 66 of the booklet (Column 10, Row 3; <Overlay ><shift>).

The branch (page 85) is glued under the overlay tree.

In the Craft Room, the branch was shorter than I'd like, but I wanted to keep the size of the leaves and limb.  Because I was in the Craft Room, I was able to stretch the leaves out without making the limb wider.  I put the leaves on another layer of my project so I was able to stretch  those to match the base leaves in size.


To achieve the 3D look, I scored and folded the owl inward.  I glued the two dimensional pieces together along the seam with liquid glass.  Then I glued the edges of that piece to the base piece -- just like the video showed you.

Let me tell you how I got to the finished owl.  After I glued the background and textured paper to the front (again, I made sure the sizes matched in the Craft Room by having both pieces on separate layers), the nose, eyes, and stomach were open.  Of course I didn't want that!

I flipped each owl over and punched two Colonial White 1.25" circles (from our fabulous circle punch) and glued them on.  Then I cut some Glitter paper (light brown) - 1.5" x 1.5" piece fit nicely - and glued that onto the back.  The glitter paper doesn't like to adhere with regular adhesive, so I took out and used my handy dandy Liquid Glass!  No problems sticking anymore.





I really like the way this project turned out.  My sister commented to me how neat it was to have the owl looking at her from the other side of the room!


All Supplies CTMH (go shop now):
Z1818     My Creations 6"x6" Canvas Display
Z1375     Kraft Cardstock
Z1830     Glitter Paper - Brown & Town
X7180B  Balloon Ride Paper Packet
X5752     Juniper Cardstock
X5751     Sorbet Cardstock
Z2171     Saddle Stamp Pad
Z2118     Desert Sand Stamp Pad
Z2165     Juniper Stamp Pad
Z2164     Sorbet Stamp Pad
Z679       Liquid Glass
Z726       Sponge Daubers
Z1311     1 1/4" Circle Punch
Z1151     3-D Foam Tape
Z1836     Non-Stick Micro-Tip Scissors (for cutting 3-D Foam tape -- awesome because there is no residual)
Z1906     Cricut Artbooking Collection
X5936    Whimsy Cardstock Combo Pack contains Juniper and Sorbet

Burlap or Ribbon Card Swap - the Others

It's really great to swap with a bunch of talented ladies.  Each has her own style!  Yesterday I showed you my card, and today I'd like to show you what I received.  The cards are from (in particular order) Kassie Napoleon, Danielle Caldwell, JoAnn Dahl, Maree Nickel, Tina Jacobson, Stacy Jensen, and Kelly King.

The above three cards used burlap.  The top two used it under the ribbon and embossed cardstock.  Sorry, I don't know what cartridge the "love" was cut from.  Oops, the tag on the left card should have been hanging down below the button.  The bottom card used the burlap as a flower accent.  The leaves are dry embossed and there are several opaques randomly placed on the card.

The top two cards utilized fabric.  The hexagons are all different fabric and then machine stitched onto the card top.  The musical notes is a fabric as are the Mickey ears on the top right card.  The bottom card is just fun!

The inside of the cookie card.

Our next challenge is to create a sympathy, thinking of you, or get well card.  I can't wait to create!

Burlap or Ribbon Swap - My Creation

I don't remember if I've told you that I belong to a group of card swappers. We meet every other month and have a challenge (but we don't have to) for the card.  This month's challenge was to use either burlap or fabric on the card.

Sometimes I can see my card clearly -- this was one of those times.  I had to look around my craft room for Twitterpated paper and my owl set, but I found them!  My card with it's Cricut envelope:

I used the burlap as my accent piece behind the owl. The Artbooking Cricut Cartridge was used to cut the branch and leaves.  Old fashion cutting got the Chocolate owl off the page.  I did stamp the owls stomach on another piece of paper in Champagne, cut it out, and sponged it with Chocolate.  I then glued it to the owl.  And notice the eyes?  I added some Cocoa Opaques!

I really liked this card so I made a couple more.  However, I ran out of trunk paper so I substituted the lined paper instead.  Still like it a lot!  By the way, the striped paper is narrower than the trunk paper.  I was going to use it originally for a standard card but went with the trunk paper on a 5"x5" card instead.

Increasing the card size put me out of the standard card sized envelope too.  That's okay because I have the Artiste Cricut Cartridge to rescue me.  : )  I sized this non-traditional envelope at 5.5" to accommodate the branch and leaves extending past the card face.  The envelope can be found on page 43 of the booklet, and under the 3D Object (key in the 3rd column, 2nd row).

If you don't have an owl stamp, and you do have the Artbooking Cartridge, then you can use the owl on page 84 or page 85.  If you don't have Artbooking, you should!  : )

Making 3D items using Cricut cutouts

Carly from Close to my Heart shows you how easy it can be to go from flat to fabulous!  Take a gander.



Why not surprise your loved ones with some heart garland.  Valentine's day too soon?  What about some flowers for Spring?  Or my friend Heather's favorite holiday - St. Patrick's Day.  You can even get super fancy and weld 3 hearts in Cricut Craft Room to make shamrocks

Look through your Cricut booklets to see all of the possibilities!  Some suggestions include:

Art Philosophy cartridge has lots of flowers, hearts, a couple of birds and butterflies, and a cupcake for a birthday.

Artiste has... well, Artiste is mostly 3D items anyway.  But it also has more hearts, cupcake, and a balloon.

Artbooking even has images you can create 3 dimensional elements from.  I'm going for the owl on page 85!  Look for that post coming soon.