Sketch challenge fun!

Way back when, I used to participate in the Sketch Challenge on the Splitcoaststampers website on a regular basis.  Now that I am back in to crafting on a regular basis, I am trying to participate in some of them again!  The Sketch Challenge is a weekly challenge where you try to make your card based on a particular layout.  It is exciting to see all the different cards that are submitted and how different they all look even though they all used the same layout!

I dug out some of my really old clear stamps for this challenge.  They are from a company called My Favorite Things, and I bought them when the company was still quite young.  Now, that company has grown and has a lot more to offer.  These stamps were from one of their Christmas sets.  It was probably their only Christmas set at the time!  I used Close to My Heart papers and Olive ink, and I used Staz-On ink for the tree.  I used Staz-On ink because it is permanent, and I used watercolor pencils to color the tree and a small, wet paintbrush to blend the color.  An unintended effect was creating a sort of feathered texture on the paper where I had gotten it wet repeatedly.  This gave a look similar to actual pine or spruce needles, which was perfect for a Christmas tree!  I used a Close to My Heart wooden designer button and tied it with a small piece of funky green yarn.  I also distressed the edges of all panels with Olive ink, and I roughed up the edge of the small green trim piece with a blade for texture.

Why did I make a Christmas card in July?  Well, if you start making holiday cards here and there throughout the latter half of the year, the task is not quite so overwhelming when November and December come along.

Summer card by Annabelle

Annabelle wanted to make a birthday card for her Grandma who has a summer birthday.  She picked out some fun printed scrapbook papers in bright summery colors from my old scrapbook paper scrap pile.  Laying out her stamps and picking out her ink colors was fun for her.  She loved how she could layer the flower and the small butterfly from the Delight set from Close to My Heart.  She also decided to distress the edges of her paper by swiping the paper directly on the ink pad, but she had trouble swiping it without getting it all over.

  So, we just decided that it was ok for it to get all over the place!  The ink that she swiped is sort of a turquoise color and is a fun summery color with the oranges, pinks, and yellows in the papers.  She was really happy with how it turned out.

Proud of her card for Grandma!

Happy Retirement

My uncle's retirement party was yesterday, and I made a card for the occasion.  Then, I so thoughtfully left the card and gift on my kitchen table and went to his house for the party.  Oops!  Well, I guess it is the thought the counts and he'll get his special card and gift the next time I see him.  In the meantime, I thought I would share his card here.
I used the following supplies:
Close to My Heart Outdoor Denim cardstock and ink
Close to My Heart Olive cardstock and ink
Close to My Heart B&T Duos paper (both sides of the paper are printed with a coordinated pattern)
Close to My Heart Enjoy Life stamp set and an acrylic block
Tombo Mono Adhesive roller

As you can see in the photo above, I layered a couple of different patterned papers as well as stamped images.  The bicyclist is stamped in Outdoor Denim ink, and the swirls behind him are also stamped in the same ink, but I stamped my stamp on a sheet of paper one time before stamping it on my patterned paper.  This gives a much lighter ink effect for the swirls and allows the bicyclist to come to the foreground.  I also swiped all of my papers against ink pads to distress the edges a little.

I used a very dark color of cardstock for the base of my card.  When you do this, you have a couple of options.  One, you can stamp your sentiment in white (or other light colored) craft ink and write a message and sign the card using a light or white colored gel pen.  Alternatively, you can do what I did, and cut a piece of lighter, coordinating paper, and stamp your sentiment in the darker ink.  If you look at the two photos, you'll notice that my interior paper matches the small blue layer on the front of the card, although the coloring in my photos doesn't make it look quite that way.  I promise, they are cut from the exact same piece!   I then stamped my sentiment in Outdoor Denim ink.  When I was all done with that, I signed my family names on the card in a matching Outdoor Denim marker.  I used the same marker to write my uncle's name on the envelope.  It was all very coordinated!  

Congrats on your retirement Uncle Dale.  You deserve to enjoy your time now.  

Great deal!

http://ashleyanne.myctmh.com

Wow... just have to share this excellent deal from Close to My Heart.  You'll find that I won't do a lot of these posts here.  I really want to use this space to show you great ideas and techniques for crafts and gardening.  But from time to time, I'll want to highlight a good deal - and this is one of them!  For the month of July, when you purchase $50 in Close to My Heart products, you can choose from one of five paper or card kits for just $1!  This is an awesome deal.  These kits range in value from $8.95 to $14.95, so you really are getting a good value.  The highest in value is the "Around the Holidays" card kit, which I think is an excellent investment at this time of year.  I know it is summer, but it won't be long at all before you'll be thinking about making holiday cards and gifts for people.  One of my favorite gifts to give is a set of five handmade cards with envelopes and a small book of stamps.  People really appreciate a gift from the heart and a gift they can really use!  Take advantage of this deal for the month of July 2011 only.  Ashley's Close to My Heart Web Site

Sponge Distressing

Distressing paper using a sponge is a great way to give paper either an antique or a softer look than it would have without the distressing.  I use some sort of distressing technique on almost every card that I make.  The transition of one layer of paper to another on a card is often times more smooth when the same distressing technique is used on both sheets.  Here, I demonstrate how to use a sponge to distress your paper, giving this card a very antique, almost Old West type of feel.

Ready for Father's Day

We spent the better part of this morning making Father's Day cards for various people. Annabelle and Joshua had a blast using my clear stamps and coordinating papers. I had not let them touch the My Acrylix stamps in the past, I only let them use my old rubber stamps that I didn't care about. So, today was a first for the kids, and both the kids and the stamps did well! Both kids had a MUCH easier time than usual since they could actually SEE where they were stamping. It makes a huge difference when you can see where you are placing your image, especially for kids. Both of them got very creative and pretty messy too.

Annabelle had especially inky fingers when she was done, but it was the result of finding many ways to be creative with stamps, ink, and sponges. She even used a combination of three stamps sets to create a happy face message on the inside of one card. It was quite unique!

Joshua really got into choosing his colors and centering and balancing images on his cards.  He used markers to add a few details to his images when he was done with the stamping and assembling.  Check out the look of concentration on his face!

I also made a few cards, including this one for my father-in-law.  The stamp set I used is called Summer Days and has great cook-out images.  Notice how my pattern paper very subtly matches the tablecloth image design?  That is one of the convenient things about using Close To My Heart products - superb product coordination!
http://ashleyanne.myctmh.com

Promise of things to come...

I'm making a commitment to actively blog again. I've resigned from my full-time teaching position to spend more time with my family. As a result, I will have more time for crafting and gardening with my kids and on my own. I've also taken on a little part-time work with my church and as a Close To My Heart independent consultant. Close To My Heart is a stamp/scrapbook/craft company with clear acrylic stamps, which are high-quality and easy to use. You'll start to see more of their products appearing in my videos and pictures, as I find them much easier to use than the rubber stamps I used to use.

So, without any delay, here is a digital scrapbook layout. Close To My Heart has a deal this month (June 2011) where you can create a Studio J online layout for free, and then download the .jpg file at no cost. You can then print it at home, post it to Facebook, or do whatever you choose with it. Typically, you have to purchase the layout prints through Close To My Heart in order to get a .jpg file, but this is a .jpg with no obligation. This is a great way to test out Studio J and see if a different mode of scrapbooking is for you. I had never used Studio J before, and I have to admit, it was pretty fun using all of the digital embellishments, layouts, and papers they had to offer. Because it uses professionally designed layouts with perfectly coordinated papers and add-ons, my product is much better looking than any of the photo book products I've create through other websites.

When you order, you have to go through the checkout process to receive your free .jpg. It takes about 15 minutes to process and will be sent to your email address. You will receive one file of the entire layout for posting online, like the one above. You will also receive separate files of each page of the layout that are of higher quality and do not have the Studio J information at the bottom of them. I highly recommend you try this while it is free!

Visit http://ashleyanne.myctmh.com to try Studio J for free this month.