Creating for Christmas - the Brae-er's Team Blog Hop

Well Christmas is just less than a month away and with it comes some pretty busy schedules.  So I am preparing most of my Christmas cards, decor, and even some food ahead of time.   But I will let you in on a little secret...the fact that my son is leaving for New Zealand for 4 months on December 3rd has a lot to do with that.  Christmas is coming early to our house this year, because we are going to celebrate before he goes.  So some of the prep has begun already!!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop,  If you came from Corina's blog  then you are in the right place!

We are featuring some of the Holiday product that CTMH has done a fabulous job with.  I love the Sparkle and Shine line and it is one of my favourite Christmas papers ever.  Once I got some of that in my possession many inspirations began to swim around in my head.  Some of it made it to the creating stage, some of it still has to get that far - but eventually it will get there.

Here are some of the projects that I have done over the last 2 months with this product line.

This is a one page layout using the Sparkle and Shine bulk paper and using the Sparkle and Shine Washi tape, the Sparkle Assortment (the cluster at the top left) as well as the Sparkle Holiday Shapes ( the nice blingy shapes that are supposed to be ornaments, but I turned them into trees).


 The following card is one that was inspired by the talented Tamra Pope.  I love her work and when I saw this card

 I fell in love with the way she raised the snowflakes, so I took that idea and ran with it.  This is the card that I came up with loosely based on her card.  I used the wintry wishes stamp set, the silver washi tape and the Sparkle and Shine paper for the card.

The next card uses the Scandinavian Wishes stampset (October's SOTM), bit of Sparkle and Shine paper and the washi tape.   Can you tell that I love washi tape?  It is in every project in this post.

The last card that I am showing you also uses washi tape and a bit of the sparkle and shine paper.  For this card I tore the ends of the paper and also the edges of the washi tape.  The sentiment is from the triple stamp set that was part of a promotion run in September 2013.  I wanted to show you that this washi tape and paper did not have to be limited to Christmas cards only.  How about something like this for Valentine's day?

That is all I have for today.  There is more to come in another blog post.  Hope you enjoyed these projects and that they inspire you in some of your own artwork.

Your next stop on the Team Brae-er Hop is Tamara's .  Go see what great artwork she has to inspire us!

If you get lost along the way you can head to  Brae's blog as she has the complete blog list.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we really love feedback from our blog viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in December when we will be featuring ideas to make for Valentines/family day etc.

Have a great day!
Lucy :)

Artbooking Made Easy: Festive Mini Albums (S01E09)

If your photos from holidays past are haunting you by sitting untouched on your hard drive, now is the time to put them on display! With the Cricut^® Artbooking cartridge, your photos will find a cozy home on the pages of a dazzling holiday mini album. In conjunction with the new Sparkle & Shine papers and embellishments, die-cuts from the Artbooking holiday-themed keys are just what you need to create merry and bright holiday projects.

http://www.youtube.com/v/j71AqK4pVxA?version=3&autohide=1&feature=share&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=fgIHrallG-B6jmBJDIXBQw&autohide=1&autoplay=1


Enjoy watching and be prepared to be inspired.

Artbooking Made Easy: Everyday Layouts (S01E08)

This is a video showing just how easy it is to make beautiful pages using the newest Cricut cartridge  ;Artbooking' available exclusively through CTMH.  Enjoy the video!

Give Thanks - The Brae-er's October Blog Hop

Welcome to our October Team Brae-er Blog Hop that focuses on "Giving Thanks" in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday. You will see creations from our team that may include stamp sets, patterned paper, inks, embellishments and more from the Close To My Heart Autumn Idea book.
We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we really love feedback from our blog viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop.  If you came from  Michelle's blog of The Right Hugh  then you are in the right place! I am sure she had some fabulous creative work to show you.

I love this time of year.  Days are for the most part still beautiful and the nights are so much cooler - great for sleeping.  But better yet, most of the garden produce has been gathered and in the fruit cellar or freezer waiting to be consumed this winter.  The colors on the trees are a feast for the eyes...God has His paint brush loaded with some brilliant colors.   Gratitude is the word I like the best for this time of year...God has once again blessed us abundantly.

I made a few cards to reflect those thoughts.

 

For this card, I used the Huntington paper and the Always Grateful stamp set.  I did some 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation stamping with the tree and came up with the depth that I was looking for.  It doesn't show up on the picture as well as on the card though. Two self adhesive Durables Artisan Studs finish off the card.   I like the very minimal but  great masculine feel to the card.

 

 

 

 

This  second card I did for Thanksgiving uses the same stamp set for the tree.  I used the puddle pad technique for the tree.  This is the way that many of the trees in my area look now and I love the color and splendour they are displaying.   I am so thankful for that burst of color before the drabness and whiteness of winter settles in.  I used an ombre look on the side of the card by tearing strips of cardstock and layering them.  I finished the card off with a few brown sparkles and some natural hemp.

 

 

 

For this card I used the same technique with the ombre cardstock only placed them in opposite order.  I used black hemp and few Just Blooms  as well as some more of the brown sparkles.  The banner is made using the Keyboard Uppercase  stamp set.

 
Your next stop on the Braer's Team Hop is Carol of "Crafty Carol's".   I am sure that she will, as usual,  have some fabulous artwork to share with you.

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Brae Montgomery's blog http://thebrae-er.blogspot.ca/2013/10/october-team-blog-hop-thankful-for-so, as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in November when we will be featuring gifts to make for the Holidays . 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday.  I for one plan to and I am so thankful for living in a country like Canada where we can celebrate in such freedom!!

Lucy :)

 Crafty Carol's

Brae-er Team Blog Hop - Cricut Inspired

Welcome to the Brae-er's September Blog Hop.  This hop is circular in nature, so if you started here, welcome.  If you came from Rosalynd's blog and saw her great art then you are in the right place.  This month we are featuring projects that are cricut inspired.  CTMH came out with another Cricut cartridge in July called ArtBooking and I absolutely love it.  I had so much fun playing with it and creating this mini album that you are about to see.  I do not have any pictures in it yet...have to get them printed in different sizes that I currently have...so you just have to use your imagination.  I will warn you that this post is very picture heavy.  Have fun looking what my imagination came up with.  Everything in this album except the picture mats is cut with the Cricut ArtBooking cartridge (set at 6") with the exception of some of the pink snowflakes.  They are cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  The album itself is made with the Frosted paper pack and a sheet of Cotton Candy cardstock and Cocoa cardstock,  some small flourishes, bitty pearls,  bitty sparkles and rhinestone clusters from the new rosewood mini medley collection.

Front Cover

 

Inside Front Cover

Pink Overlay is from Art Philosophy.

Room for 3 little photos.  Snowflakes are from the overlay in a later page.  I love that you can use them for other parts of the project.

 

Room for 1 photo.  I used liquid applique to puff up the word SNOW.

 

Overlay for a photo.  Snowflake is one of the crocheted flowers CTMH carries.

Room for an oval photo.

Room for two 1.5 x 2" photos.

 

Envelope for storing memorabilia.

 

Filmstrips hold lots of little photos or 2 long narrow ones.

 

Pocket that holds 3 tags - great for more pictures or for lots of journaling!

Overlay and paper hinges to 'hide' the picture and to show the snowflake effect over the picture.

 

Three 3" flip flaps to hold more pictures.

Page for journaling or more pictures. The flip side is exactly the same but for the pattern on the paper.

Inside back cover.

 

These are just some of the pages.  There are 21 pages in total, but some of them I left very plain so that the pictures would take the show.  I do not have any pictures developed yet as I said earlier, so I did not include those pages.

I hope that you have enjoyed my mini album.  Please leave any comments that you may have...I would love to hear from you. 

Now it is time to go on to the next blog in this blog hop.  And that blog belongs to Tamara.  Go and check out her wonderful artwork.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Enjoy your day and your long weekend, Lucy :) 

 

Ombre Technique

Do you like the look of liquid glass and a rainbow of color? Check out this video and see just how simple it is to use this technique.  I love it and will use it in one of my upcoming projects.

Enjoy the video and have a wonderful day.

Lucy :)

Summer Has Arrived

Today is the first day of summer and with it comes lots of thoughts of picnics, family reunions, holidays and relaxation for most people.  This is a circular blog hop with the Brae-ers so if you just came from Cheryl Peyton's blog at  http://peytonspaperplace.blogspot.com/2013/06/summer-fun-welcome-to-this-months-blog.html you are in the right place.
  Going on a picnic one thing that I love to do but never seem to be able to do much of.  We are in our busiest season as far as work goes, and with that comes many packed lunches. So in light of that I thought I would do a project that would help me to pack a picnic lunch so much easier, especially for Canada Day.  

I do not have the special Canadian military stamp set yet so I had to make do with getting a Canada flag from the internet.
The clear pillow boxes were the starting point for this project.  I wrapped some ribbon around them and then used a mini clothespin to fasten the Canadian flag and the little banner.  Find some red and white napkins and some plastic cutlery and my project was complete.  This came together in 15 minutes for me - one of the fastest projects I have ever done. I hope you like it and that it is a springboard for some picnics of your own.

 

Now it is time to see what Michelle at  http://therighthugh.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-hop-summer-fun.html has created,  Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!

Have a great day, Lucy :)