Category:

Close to My Heart

Thank you (Stuck on You – CTMH)

written by Kylie

Hi Everyone,

Are cacti and succulents still trending? I hope so as I have a few cards to share. I still love them…but then again I always have. When I was growing up my Mum and Dad had a small succulent collection. They had some amazing plants.

Anyway, let’s backtrack to last year…I was keeping a friend company while she was hosting an open house. I had only a few supplies with me to help pass the time. (Unfortunately, it would seem the stamps I have used are no longer available). I created a few cards over the course of the day and in typical Kylie style, they are very similar. As you all know because I am always thinking, “what if I do this? or what about that?”, I usually end up making all the variations. Sometimes I only make two variations and other times…well, let’s just say I make a LOT! And often times there are only a couple of details which vary.

I hope you don’t mind when I share all the variations. I know they are very much alike but I am hoping that maybe they will inspire you in some small way. Let me know below if you would prefer to see just the one look. Okay, let’s get onto the cards…

Here’s the card…

Sending you a prickly hug!
Materials used: Stamps – Stuck on You (CTMH); Copic Makers; Ink – Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Spun Sugar Distress Ink (Tim Holtz/Ranger), and Cardstock – Knights Smooth, American Crafts.

When this card was done, I thought it needed a little bit more colour. I also wasn’t sure about the greeting…”Sending you a prickly hug!” – do I not like you very much? I’ll send you a hug but it has a little bit of attitude with it. lol Hmm…time to change it up.

Here’s the card…

Hug Me!
Materials used: Stamps – Stuck on You (CTMH); Copic Makers; Ink – Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT); Cardstock – Knights Smooth, and Designer Paper – Close to My Heart.

This card is the same design, however, I’ve used a patterned background which gives it a little more lift. I’ve also used “Hug me!” which seems a little more friendly, albeit a little needier too. haha

Onto the third card…I’ve gone for a generic “Thank you” sentiment time. The panel is centred but reaches the top of the card base to the bottom. I’ve also shaded around the succulents with blue instead of the grey I used in the previous cards. I think that brightens the card a little.

Here’s the card…

Thank You
Materials used: Stamps – Stuck on You, A Thousand Thanks (CTMH); Copic Makers; Ink – Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT); Cardstock – Knights Smooth, CTMH.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed seeing my cards!

Happy Stamping!

29 January, 2017 3 comments

Cards Close to My Heart CTMH Stamping Thank You

Thank you for your kindness (CTMH/HA)

written by Kylie

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year to you all! Hope you are all enjoying a happy start to 2016!

I’ve spent a lot of time creating lately but not much time blogging and I’ve missed you all!

On my to-do list is making a few “thank you” cards as my stash is depleted and I really need to send out a few. I had recently received the Friendly Pets stamp set from Close To My Heart (CTMH) and the Acts of Kindness set from Hero Arts and I thought they would work together perfectly. As I needed to make a number of cards I also decided to go with a very simple card design. I have turned this card design into a sketch as I love it so much and think it is actually a very versatile design. I’m going to add a page for sketches on my blog as a resource which will grow over time – for those moments when creativity seems a little blocked.

Here’s the sketch…

Sketch 1

As you can see, it would be perfect for a one layer card but you could easily jazz it up as well. I decided to make the centre panel pop up with foam adhesive but otherwise I kept the design very simple.

Here’s the card…

Thank you for your kindness
Materials used: Stamps – Friendly Pets (CTMH), Acts of Kindness (Hero Arts); Copic Markers, Designer Paper – Happy Snaps (KaiserCraft), Glossy Accents (Ranger) and Rhinestones (KaiserCraft).

If you are interested in seeing how this card came together, here’s a video showing the process…

For the second card, I switched out the patterned paper and used washi tape instead. I don’t have a lot of washi tape but I have enough that I really should be using it more. On cards where you only want a little bit of colour, like this one, washi tape fits the bill perfectly.

Here’s the card…

Thank you for your kindness
Materials used: Stamps – Friendly Pets (CTMH), Acts of Kindness (Hero Arts); Copic Markers, Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers, Washi Tape (KaiserCraft), Glossy Accents (Ranger) and Rhinestones (KaiserCraft).

For the third card, pattered paper came back into play and I thought I could use it in the balloon as well for something a little different. Adding a stitched line to the border of the middle panel gave it a little ore interest too.

Here’s the card…

Thank you for your kindness
Materials used: Stamps:

The next card, I stepped the basic design up a little more by adding a border of patterned paper to the middle panel. I also gave the dog more of a setting with a grass and sky background. Can you see how the possibilities for both this stamp set and the design just continue to develop?

Here’s the card…

Thank you for your kindness
Materials used: Stamps – Friendly Pets (CTMH), Acts of Kindness (Hero Arts); Copic Markers, Designer Paper – Happy Snaps (KaiserCraft), Distress Ink (Tim Holtz/Ranger), Glossy Accents (Ranger) and Rhinestones (KaiserCraft).

For the final card I am sharing today, I moved away from the straight lines in the middle and added a cloud edge. So pretty! I also made the middle panel wider. It is still the same sketch but automatically these two changes make the card look quite different. The hint of glitter tape along the left hand edge adds a little bling and fun to an otherwise simple card.

Here’s the card…

Thank you for your kindness
Materials used: Stamps – Friendly Pets (CTMH), Acts of Kindness (Hero Arts); Copic Markers, Dies – Puffy Clouds Border (Lawn Fawn), Shimmer Tape (CTMH), Designer Paper – Little One.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. If you happen to use the sketch idea to create your own card, please let me know as I would love to see your interpretation.

Happy Stamping!

24 January, 2016 0 comment

Christmas Close to My Heart CTMH Rambling Stampin' Up!

Ramblings

written by Kylie

Hi Everyone,

Wow! It has been such a long time (again!) since I popped in to say hi and share what I have been doing creatively. Like many of you, I’ve spent A LOT of time creating Christmas cards recently. I make them for my work as well as for myself so it does take a bit of time. I had planned to use some of the new stamp sets from Lawn Fawn to create my cards this year – then I saw the card example on page 15 of the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalogue (using the Embellished Ornaments Clear Mount Bundle)! I knew immediately I wanted to make something similar. Seriously, it is a GORGEOUS card! Whilst I stayed fairly true to the example in the catalogue in terms of design I have mixed it up a bit – I’ve used distress inks, added some bling and used my printer and the Minc to add some pretty foiled elements. And yes, the Minc is totally awesome and my new favourite crafting tool!

Here is the first of the two styles of Christmas cards inspired by the design in the Stampin’ Up! Catalogue…

Merry Christmas (Blue)
Materials used: Stamps – Embellished Ornaments (Stampin’ Up!), Dies – Delicate Ornament Thinlits (Stampin’ Up!), Triplits – Banner (Sizzix), Blueprints 13 (MFT), Cardstock – Stampin’ Up!; Card Base – KaiserCraft; Inks – Distress Ink; Minc – Foil, Toner Paper; Wink of Stella; and Rhinestones (KaiserCraft).

And the second card…

Merry Christmas (Red)
Materials used: Stamps – Embellished Ornaments (Stampin’ Up!), Dies – Delicate Ornament Thinlits (Stampin’ Up!), Triplits – Banner (Sizzix), Blueprints 13 (MFT), Cardstock – American Crafts, Stampin’ Up!; Inks – Distress Ink; Minc – Foil, Toner Paper; Wink of Stella; KindyGlitz, Metallic Thread, and Rhinestones (KaiserCraft).

And with that my Christmas cards were made. Yay!

On a completely different note, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about becoming a consultant with either Close to My Heart or Stampin’ Up!. They both seem like really great companies and offer product which I like. Would love to hear any opinions about each company. I do know consultants for each of the companies (and I would sign up under them should I decide to proceed) but I’d love to hear any words of wisdom from my friends in blogland, including whether you would actually be interested in seeing any cards I made using stamps/products from these companies.

I hope you are all happy and well and I am so sorry for the long absence! I’m sorry too that I’ve not been visiting your blogs too! I’ve missed seeing all the fabulous things I just *know* you’ve been creating!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Stamping!

20 December, 2015 2 comments