Taking time to grieve...

I'll be taking some time off from blogging for the next few weeks as I grieve for the loss of my father.  I spent last week caring for him in the last few days of his life and helped him through his last few hours.  It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done and my heart and head are still trying to process and deal with the emotions.  

One of the things that has always helped me is working on art so I will be back in my craft room soon and posting again.  I'm just not ready yet to move to that stage of healing.  Thank you for understanding my friends. May you find peace and joy in this holiday season and hold those you love close to your heart.

Paige

December Stamp of the Month Hop - Candlelight Garden

Welcome to the December SOTM Blog Hop where we are featuring the beautiful limited edition Candlelight Garden stamp set!  If you have come here from Dana's Blog you are on the right track.  For a complete listing of all participating CTMH consultants, click HERE.

I decided to use my Shinhan Touchtwin Markers for this card and colored in my flowers on our Watercolor Paper stamped with Memento ink using colors from the Sangria paper collection. I used our Confetti embossing folder on the kraft background piece and then went over each dot with our Gold Metallic Marker - love the effect it achieved! A few paper pieced hearts and a sprinkling of Gold Sequins along with a tiny piece of White Glitter Paper (did NOT photograph well) and I was done!

Candlelight Garden is one of my favorite SOTM sets this year! The mason jar stamp is adorable and I love that you can use either the flower bouquet with it or the candle image.  Too adorable and so on-trend with all the mason jar crafts this year. If you are ready to grab your own December SOTM Candlelight Garden set then visit my shopping site!  Remember - it's okay to get your own Christmas presents so grab this set to stuff your stocking!

www.Paige.CTMH.com

Now hop on over to Jean's Blog and see what she has created to share with us today!

Heart2Heart Challenges - Watercolors!

Welcome to our Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week as we explore the trendy watercolor medium! 

Today I created a therapy piece for myself.  After reading about the tragedy in Paris this weekend my heart felt sore for our world.  The image of the Eiffel Tower as a peace sign that has been going around on the internet caught my eye so I painted a love rainbow with my watercolors and created a similar Eiffel Tower peace sign with my Cricut Explore.

Art is healing and this weekend my heart needed a good dose.  I hope you'll pick up your brushes and paint along with our watercolor challenge this week at Heart2Heart. 

May we all be ripples of peace on the turbulent waters of the world this week.

Paige

Paper Fundamentals Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Paper Fundamentals Blog Hop!  Today we are spotlighting our fab and fun Paper Fundamentals which are part of November's Simply Fundamental Campaign.  If you have come here from Jessica's Blog then you are on the right track. If you get lost along the way you can find the complete list of participating CTMH Consultants by clicking here.

I created a custom cascading heart card front for this card and backed it with the chevron Sangria pattern.  I really love the way the pattern peeks through! 

The sentiment is from our Sending Love stamp set and the stamped flower is from So Many Smiles.  The pop up portion is from our Artiste Cricut Cartridge.

See the two hearts on the side?  I sponged ink on the revers side of two hearts that were cut from the front.  One side of the Paper Fundamentals has a pattern (the Champagne colored paper you see) and one side has a resist pattern so when you ink it leaves the pattern on the paper in the original color of paper.  You can create some VERY cool effects with this product!

When you are ready to shop, visit my site and you can pick up the following supplies to copy this card:

Paper Fundamentals Basics

Sangria Paper Pack

So Many Smiles Stamp Set

Sending Love Stamp Set

Eggplant Ink

Pomegranate Ink

Topiary Ink

White Daisy Cardstock

Gold Foil Tape

Now hop on over to Krista's blog and see the beautiful project she has created to share with us today!  

First Christmas Card of the Season - Standing Box Card

My friend Terri (I would link to her fabulous artwork but the silly girl still doesn't have a blog) walked me through creating this fun box card the other day.  Love it!  This was my "test case" card so I used our retired Believe Christmas paper from a couple of years back and combined it with our recent October SOTM Twinkle.

Check it out from a side view - love that dimension!  It all folds flat inside a standard envelope for mailing and stands on its own when you pop it out.

Here is the flat back of the card where you write your sentiment.

I always love any kind of pop up or stand up card for the WOW factor when people get them in the mail.  Thanks Terri for showing me how to create a new kind of fun fold card! I'll be making a few more of these this week with newer papers!

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me today!  Stay crafty my friends!

Paige

Heart2Heart Challenges - Through a Window

Today our challenge at Heart2Heart is "through the window" so I grabbed my CTMH Artfully Sent cartridge and our Sangria paper pack and made this fun word bubble window card.  It's bright, wacky, borderline tacky but kind of fun!

I applied a second card front with temporary adhesive to the front of the card so I could sponge through the cuts and get this look on the white liner. Confession - I had a second card front because my Cricut chewed the first paper I put through because my mat wasn't sticky enough and the paper shifted and rolled.  My quick fix was grabbing some Washi tape to hold down the corners of the next sheet of paper until I get a chance to wash my mats.

I hadn't used this set Mini Messages Hostess Rewards set yet so I had fun stamping all the cute little sayings inside the windows!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you'll take the challege at Heart2Heart and create a "through the window" project to share!

Paige

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Cheers, 2016!

Welcome to the November SOTM Blog Hop featuring our limited edition set called Cheers, 2016! If you've come from Haley's blog then you are on the right track.  This hop is one big circle so if you keep going you'll eventually come back here but if you happen to get lost along the way, the complete list of participating CTMH consultants can be found by clicking here.

I made a champagne and roses anniversary card using the Cheers sentiment and our lovely La Vie En Rose paper pack.

This paper pack is drop dead gorgeous featuring 5 black and white patterns and an amazing print of romantic flowers. I love how well it pairs with glitter paper and our foil tape - fancy to look at but easy to create with!

I used silver and gold glitter paper to make the layered champagne glasses from our Artistry cartridge and then used the cut out dots to give my sentiment some extra bling. Such a pretty card to add to my stash!

The November Cheers, 2016! stamp set has a New Years feel but so many of the images can be used for other occasions.  You can pick up your set for just $5 with a $50 order on my shopping site at:

www.Paige.CTMH.com

While you are there you can grab some of the other fun goodies I used:

La Vie En Rose Paper Pack

Gold Foil Tape

Gold Glitter Paper

Black and Gray Glitter Paper

Artistry Cricut Cartridge

Now hop on over to Gina's blog and see what wonderful thing she has created to share with  us today!

Cricut Glitter Vinyl Shirt

My fabulous girl was home last weekend on a quick visit from college.  She works at the Apple store on her college campus and one of the running jokes from her boss is saying #teamEliza whenever she does something awesome at work. She has a team meeting coming up this week so we made this joke shirt for her to wear - too funny and too cute! She told me I need to make one that says #EpicMom.  Awww!

Cricut Glitter Vinyl is the bomb - seriously can't wait to make a shirt for myself with some of this stuff!

Paige

Zombie Apocolypse Response Team T-Shirts

I couldn't resist making a couple of fun shirts for my older kids for Halloween this week.I saw a similar shirt on pinterest and knew I had to make one using the Artistry font as the letters are easy to weed with their solid insides. 

I used Cricut Flex Iron On for these - it is a very stretchy kind of vinyl so that once it put it on an item, it should flex with it and hopefully stay on nicely.  Seriously a pain in the butt to weed though because it doesn't cut quite as cleanly as the other vinyl and you have to pull it off where it sticks and stretches.  It took two sets of hands to weed the yellow shirt and I had to do the green one on my own.

I'll let you know once I start washing and drying the items how things stay on.  I'm planning on washing inside out and probably air drying first and then try drying in the dryer. They really were a blast to make so I hope they stay on!  I have lots of ideas for Christmas presents this year if they do!

Paige

My Very First Cricut Iron On T-Shirt!

I *finally* took the plunge and made my very first Cricut iron on t-shirt!  I was a bit intimidated by the whole vinyl thing which was silly as it was so easy to cut on my Explore and used just a regular iron to transfer.

If you don't already know, a couple of days ago (October 21, 2015) was Back to the Future day - the day in the movie that Doc takes Marty into the future.  My youngest kiddo really likes the trio of movies and even has the Marty McFly holographic hat so when I saw someone post with an SVG of a DeLorean car that was free I knew I had to make a shirt for my kiddo with it on it.  Then I saw the video that Doc (Christopher Lloyd) put out on that day with this quote on it, found a free Back to the Future font and ba-da-bing ba-da-boom I had the finished shirt.

Epic Mom points from the kiddo - doesn't get any better than that! I had so much fun I made a couple of more shirts that I'll be sharing in the next few days so stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by today and stay crafty my friends!

Paige

Heart 2 Heart Challenges - Create with Your Cricut!

Today's challenge at Heart2Heart Challenges is to create with your Cricut!  By now you all know that I adore my Cricut Explore and all our amazing CTMH cartridges.  They are my go-to carts for just about every project I create.  There are SO many amazing cuts I almost didn't know what to make but I finally decided on a fun halloween pop up card mixing Artfully Sent with Artistry to send to my daughter for dorm decor.

I mixed our new Nevermore papers with some fun glitter paper and vellum for a textural treat!

I added a few squares of vellum for the spooky ghosts and some glitter paper for the moon and the tiny crows.

I think she's going to get a kick out of this one!  I love sending her happy mail - I always get a text the day she receives it and she keeps the cards on her desk for a couple of weeks to decorate her space.

I hope you'll join us at Heart2Heart Challenges this week and break out your Cricut or your die cuts for some challenge fun!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Paige

Holiday Expressions Blog Hop

Welcome to the Holiday Expressions Blog Hop! If you've come here from Wendy's Blog you are on the right track!  This hop is one big circle but if you get lost along the way you can find the complete listing of all participating CTMH bloggers HERE.

Since Heart2Heart Challenges has a great sketch this week I decided to use it again to make my project for today. I recently saw a Frankenstein card that had this sentiment stamped on it (click here to see the original by Audrey Pettit) and I knew as soon as I saw it that I had to create it with my CTMH Artistry font and my Little Monsters stamp set.

Our Holiday Expressions Idea Book will be live only until December 31st so don't delay in picking up your favorite seasonal stamps and papers!  You can shop my store here:

www.Paige.CTMH.com 

Products used:

Nevermore Paper Pack

Little Monsters Stamp Set

Shinhan Touchtwin Markers

Artistry and Artfully Sent Cartridges

Honey Cardstock

Now hop on over to  Priscilla's Blog and see what she has created for us!

Heart 2 Heart Challenges - Let's Get Sketchy!

I really enjoy using sketches to get myself started on projects and today at Heart2Heart Challenges we have an AWESOME sketch to get our creative juices flowing!

I grabbed my CTMH Artistry cartridge and decided to use the fabulous gemstone cuts to create a shimmery flashy motivational card to send to my daughter.  It gave me a chance to use our new White Glitter Paper and Gold Foil Tape as well as three of our new cardstock colors - Sapphire, Eggplant and Fern. This card is full of shiny bling and can still be slipped into an envelope for mailing.

To purchase any of the products used on this project, visit my shopping site at:

www.Paige.CTMH.com

Products Used:

CTMH Artristry Cricut Cartridge

White Glitter Paper

Black Glitter paper

Gold Foil Tape

Sapphire Cardstock

Eggplant Cardstock

Fern Cardstock

Here is the beautiful sketch created by Brandi Robinson for us this week.  I know you are going to have fun creating with this one!  Be sure to link your projects up at Heart2Heart Challenges!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Stay crafty my friends!

Paige

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Twinkle

Welcome to the October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop where we are featuring our Twinkle holiday themed stamp set.  If you've come here from Maureen's Blog you are on the right track. If you get lost along the way you can find the complete list of CTMH Consultants participating in the hop HERE.

I made a fun bright Christmas card using a cut from our Artbooking cartridge and watercolors.  

I started by watercoloring the tree and then embossed the light strings and big lightbulbs on top. I scattered a few of our Gold Sequins on the tree for ornaments and finished off by stamping the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black (so happy we are selling this ink now!) and framing a smaller panel with Blue Shimmer Trim.

  This card is a bit out of my normal style but I do like experimenting with more clean and simple designs. To purchase any of the products I've used and pick up your limited time Twinkle stamp set, visit my shopping site:

www.Paige.CTMH.com

Products Used:

October SOTM Twinkle

Artbooking Cartridge

Watercolor Paints

Watercolor Paper

Silver Embossing Powder

Versamark Ink

Blue Shimmer trim

Tuxedo Black Ink

White Daisy Cardstock

Now hop on over to my friend Darlys Recker's Blog and what she has created to share with us!

Using CTMH Shinhan Touchtwin Markers - quick video!

If you haven't had a chance to use our CTMH Shinhan Touchtwin Markers yet, here is a video showing how to use these beautiful juicy products!

Ready to start your marker collection? You can shop for this fun product at my website:

www.Paige.CTMH.com

If you can't see the video below and you are receiving this via e-mail, click the title of this post above to watch the video!

Heart 2 Heart Challenges - Doodling!

Today we have a doodle challenge at Heart2Heart Challenges and I have a confession to make.  I'm really, really not good at drawing.  Yup, it's true.  I stink at drawing pictures which is why I love to stamp because then I can look like an artist!  So I came up with a way to FAKE doodle - you heard that right - I'm going to teach you how to FAKE doodle!

If you have a Cricut Explore machine you know that we can draw on our projects with the pen accessory.  I decided I'd use that feature to help me fake it.  First I picked an image from our new Artistry cartridge that was simple and felt kind of hand drawn.  I changed the image from cut to drawn and attached it to a 4x5.25" square. I used our watercolor paper as I wanted to play some more with that medium. This is what it looked like when it came out of my machine.

I used my new Watercolors and applied color within the drawn lines.  Then I added some background color and when it was dry some Silver Metallic Marker doddled stars (yeah, I can draw stars) and a doodled frame.  I then went over the machine drawn lines with my journaling pen to really give it a hand drawn look!

I totally adore our new Silver Foil Tape - so shiny and fun to use on projects.  For the life of me I couldn't find my silver sequins so I wound up using some gold sequins and coloring them in with our black Shinhan marker - I rubbed most of the color off which gave them a nice gray patina.

I hope you enjoyed my "fake" doodle tutorial!  I really like the way this one turned out and best of all it is one flat piece to pop into the mail!  

Now hop on over to the Heart2Heart Challenges blog and join us in some doodling or "fake" doodling this week!

Want to get the products I've used?  Visit my shopping site at 

www.Paige.CTMH.com 

or click the links to these specific products:

Artistry Cartridge

Watercolor Paper

Watercolor Paints

Metallic Markers

Journaling Pen

Foil Tape

Sequins

Shinhan TouchTwin Marker

Make it From Your Heart Volume 1 and 2 Recipes!

Edit:  I had to update the link to be publicly shared.  You can now access via the updated link below!

I had a question the other day about a layout in one of the Make it From Your Heart volumes.  These recipes are not online under my shopping site unlike the recipes for the Annual Inspirations books so I downloaded the PDFs to my google drive in order to share!

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-Ury5dYyE3vN1paZU5OMlNUa0k&usp=sharing

These recipes have the exact Cricut Cuts plus the sizes to cut them included so you can re-create the artwork easily!

Enjoy!

Paige

National Stamping Month - Close ups and Videos of the Sets!

We are half way through September - have you picked up your National Stamping Month stamps sets yet?  Don't miss out on these fun sets - just $13.95 each or get all 3 and get a discount of $6.90!

www.Paige.CTMH.com

Here's a little video to show them in action! If you are getting this via e-mail, you'll need to click the title of this post and visit my blog to see the video:

And don't forget to pick up the September Stamp of the Month while you are at it - this beautiful floral set is only available until the end of the month!

Shop Here:

www.Paige.CTMH.com

Idea Book Recipes including Cricut Cuts!

Hey friends -

Did you know that you can find the recipes for all the gorgeous artwork in the Annual Inspirations and Holiday Inspirations Idea Books including the exact Cricut Cuts to use AND the size to cut them???

Yep! All you have to do is visit my shopping site at the link below and you'll see the new books and three links underneath - one to download the PDF of the book, one for the Recipes of all artwork in the book and one for the Product Index for that book!

http://paige.ctmh.com/ctmh/products/online-idea-book.aspx

Pretty darn cool huh? I love being able to find the exact cut and size that the amazing artists at CTMH Corporate used to create their artwork so I can quickly re-create if I choose!

Hope this little tip brightened your day!

Paige

Heart 2 Heart Challenges - Coloring Challenge

Today I'm sharing my first pan watercolor project that I made for the Coloring Challenge at Heart2Heart Challenges this week!  I was so excited at Convention this year when I saw we were getting pans of watercolors along with our watercolor pencils.  I've always loved using the pencils but I definitely wanted to experiment with some of the wonderful watercolor techniques I've seen lately!

I chose our new Operation Smile stamp set called Animal Greetings because the critters are just too cute and call out for soft watercolor washes!  

I stamped the image and sentiment on a 2x3" piece of our new smooth surface Watercolor Paper (a must for being able to smooth colors around without risking paper pilling) using Memento Tuxedo Black.

Some of the things I learned in doing my first project:

- if you go directly from the pan to the project you get a chalky look and not a soft wash

- if you let an area dry you can go in with new colors on top (the antlers)

- you can remove an excess of paint by lifting with a damp brush

- use the lid of your paints as a palette to add more water and soften to a wash

-tiny pointed tip brushes are your friend for this size image

-you can use watercolor paints to color regular cardstock too (bottom yellow flower) but you won't be able to move the paint around like you can on watercolor paper

I am definitely looking forward to playing with and learning this new medium! I hope you'll grab your inks, markers, paints, colored pencils, chalks or anything else you like to use and join us at Heart2Heart Challenges this week for our Coloring Challenge! 

If you would like to purchase any of the items I've used in my project or other Close to my Heart goodies, you can visit my shopping site!  We have two brand new Idea Books available now chock full of fun and fab goodies!

www.Paige.CTMH.com

Stay crafty my friends!

Paige

National Stamping Month Blog Hop - Hello Life!

Welcome to the National Stamping Month Hello Life Blog Hop! If you've come from Michele's Blog then you are on the right track! 

Today we are showcasing the THREE stamps Close to my Heart has created for this very special month - one for scrappers, one for pocket scrappers and one for cardmakers!  I'll let you in on a secret - they are all so fabulous you'll want to get all three and when you do CTMH will give you a discount! Each set is $13.95 but you can get all three for just $34.95—a savings of $6.90! I'll show you each set at the end of this post.

I used a little something from each stamp set to create this custom sentiment watercolored birthday card!

The new foil tape is so cool!  It adds a dash of shimmer and glitter to the edge and compliments the silver glitter paper sentiment cuts. I love the eclectic look to this card with the watercolored background, popped watercolored pieces and stamping directly onto the card base.

Ready to add these cuties to your stamp stash?  Visit my shopping site and grab these plus other goodies from the brand new Annual Inspirations and Holiday Expressions Idea Books!

www.Paige.CTMH.com

Now hop on over to Angela's Blog and see what she has created for us!