Embossed Alcohol Marker Colored Foil Scene Card

I had so much fun making the embossed alcohol marker colored foil background for yesterday's post that I decided to try it with a scene embossing folder.  Our new Shinhan Touch Twin Alcohol Markers are perfect for this technique!

Click HERE to see my quick tutorial on how to create a tin foil dry embossed piece for your projects.

These cards are SO shiny and pretty in real life!

 I love techniques that are super easy but full of visual pop!  I hope you'll give this one a try! 

Stay crafty my friends!

Paige

Shinhan Touch Twin Marker Blog Hop - How to Emboss and Color FoilBackgrounds

Welcome to the Shinhan Marker Blog Hop!  Today our group of CTMH Consultants will be showcasing our new Shinhan Touch Twin alcohol markers. If you are coming from Wendy's Blog then you are on the right track!  This blog hop is a big circle so keep going and you'll head back here.  If you happen to get lost along the way you can find the complete list of hoppers here on Melinda's Blog.

I wanted to try something new for this hop so I made a card with a dry embossed marker colored foil background.  I had this technique kicking around in my head and couldn't wait to try it with our fun Chevron Embossing Folder.  I have a brief How-To for this technique at the end of this post so be sure to scroll to the end.

I colored my Cricut cut words with my Shinhan markers to match the background exactly. Then I added a splash of our retired Pink Glitz Glitter gel to give the heart a little umph.  You could also use our Pink Glitter paper to give it some sparkle!

This one is going off to my college girl for her weekly happy mail.  I miss her so much and I know she gets a boost each time she gets a bit of love from home in her mail box.

Now hop on over to Haley's wonderful blog to see what she has created for you!

Edited to add colors of markers I used:
Reds: 
Cherry Pink then Tender Pink 

Oranges: 
Marigold then Leaf Green

Green Stripes: 
Vivid Green then Sap Green 

Blues: 
Peacock Green then Turquoise Blue 

Purples: 
Lavender then Peony Purple

How To Create Tin Foil Embossed Papers:

1.  Cut a sheet of Heavy Duty Tin Foil the size of the piece you want to create.  I used Reynolds Wrap Heavy Duty Foil and made a full 12x12" sheet so I could have extra to play around. 

2.  Using a sheet of plain CS, apply a thin layer of Bonding Memories Glue all over the CS.  Be sure to get the edges and corners.

3.  Place the foil down on the CS and gently press down to avoid major wrinkles.  A brayer might be helpful at this step. Minor wrinkles will disappear with the dry embossing.

4.  Trim your pieces to fit your embossing folder and dry emboss.  Check your corners and edges and apply a little glue under anything that lifts.

5.  Using your Shinhan Touch Twin marker, color your designs in.  I found the high relief sections were easier to color than the lower debossed sections.

6.  Sit back and admire your fun handiwork and then add it to a project to WOW someone!

September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Family is Forever with Technique Tutorial

Welcome to our September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  

We will be featuring September's SOTM, Family is Forever.  If you have come here from  Kristine's post, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost, click HERE to find the complete blog hop list!

Here is my creation using our Yuletide Carol paper,  Shinhan  Touch Twin markers, Gold Glitter Gems and some Base and Bling charms.

See the end of my post for a quick tutorial on how to get a bark look for the trunk and get clear colors for your marker colored hearts!

 Base and Bling charms work great on your cards too!  Just thread some ribbon through the jump ring and you have a fun embellishment!

Now "Hop" on over to Jessica's Blog to see her work! 

Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the September SOTM is only available until the 30th and you can get it for just $5 with a $50 order!  Contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my shopping site at www.Paige.CTMH.com to get yours!

Tutorial:  Creating a bark look for your stamped trees and selectively de-inking your stamp to get clear marker colors.

I love this tree stamp but wanted to give it more texture and also color the leaves and hearts using my new Shinhan Twin Touch markers (new love!).  When I tried to color over the Desert Sand ink with my Cherry Pink marker, the colors were muted and yucky so here is how I solved the problem.

1.  Drag your stamp over the surface of your ink pad from trunk to leaves to get the textured bark look when stamping.

2.  While the ink is still wet, grab an eraser and literally wipe away the ink from the hearts.  You can see in the picture below that I've done the big heart and am working on the smaller heart above it.

3.  Huff on the stamp with your breath to re-moisten the ink and then stamp it on your paper.

Now when you stamp your image, the areas you wiped off will be very light and you can go in with the marker to add a different color.  If you wanted to get the areas really clean you can wrap a piece of paper towel around the eraser for controlled selective de-inking.

The Sap Green marker covered the Desert Sand inked leaves perfectly so I didn't need to wipe those but the Cherry Pink hearts really needed to be selectively de-inked before coloring!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Happy stamping!

Paige

ARTBOOKING Video Tutorial: How to make a layout with the new Artbooking Cartridge!

Here is a fabulous video created by Close to my Heart for the Big Picture Class pajama party that was held on July 31st. Watch it for a great tutorial on how to use the new cartridge and create this terrific layout!


***If you are getting this delivered via e-mail you will need to click out to my blog using the title of the post above in order to view the video!***

   

Isn't that fabulous? Artbooking is such an easy tool to use to create fun and fast layouts and when you want to bump up the art factor you just add some stamping or some accessories! If you are ready to get this cartridge (and you won't regret it!) visit my website here: 

 www.Paige.CTMH.com

Let me know if you have any questions!

Paige

How to Import and Cut using a Cricut Craft Room File - Quick Video Tutorial from Me!

Hi there friends -

I've put together a quick (5 minute) video tutorial walking you through how to import and cut using the Cricut Craft Room files that I mail to you when you purchase a multi-page Stampologist Long Distance or Consultant Class Kit. This will help anyone who hasn't used the Cricut Craft Room to import and cut projects.  The Cricut Craft Room software (click HERE to get it) is absolutely free and setting up an account is free too so there is absolutely no cost involved with using these files!

Look below the video for some FREE CCR files I'm sharing for some smaller projects - its a great way to test out your new import/cut skills!





Download this FREE file by clicking the link below and then import and cut using Cricut Craft Room!  This uses the Artiste Cartridge (you must own this cartridge to cut using the free CCR file).

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-s0bPFar76fYjZ5aC0wcG9iMGM/edit?usp=sharing

Download this FREE file by clicking the link below and then import and cut using Cricut Craft Room!  This uses the Artiste Cartridge (you must own this cartridge to cut using the free CCR file).

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-s0bPFar76fNmhydDBMSVBZNGs/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for watching!

Paige

Creating fun foldables with your Cricut CTMH cartridges!

Here is another great corporate video showing just a few of the Cricut cuts that you can fold to create dimension.  There are so many of this type of image on Artiste and Art Philosophy and its always fun to see how they can be used!

Tutorial on Cricut Craft Room with Art Philosophy and Artiste Cartridges

Discover the Possibilities of Cricut® Craft Room

Categories: ART ATTACK

If you love your Cricut^® machine, then you are going to adore all of the fabulous things you can do with Close To My Heart Cricut^®cartridges in the Cricut^® Craft Room. Create layers, cut negative space in the shape of your choice, make borders, and link elements together for a connected look. It’s easy! We’ll show you how.
Here is how to get started with Cricut^® Craft Room:

1. Create a FREE account in a few easy steps.
2. Download and run the application for PC or MAC, depending on the type of computer you use.
3. Connect your Cricut^® machine to your computer using a Type B USB cable. (Note: For more info on this type of cable, see your Cricut^® user’s guide or your local electronics store.) Once you have connected your computer to your Cricut^® machine, the “Load Mat” button is the only button you will ever need to push on your machine in the entire process. Cricut^® Craft Room will do everything else for you.
4. Once inside the application, choose the type of Cricut^® machine you own.
5. Insert your Close To My Heart Art Philosophy or Artiste cartridge into your Cricut^® machine.
6. In the lower left portion of the application there is a tab that is labeled “Images/Cartridges.” Select “All Cartridges” from the dropdown menu. (Note: You must choose a cartridge that you own. You can also purchase individual images from the Cricut^®store.)
7. Scroll to find the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy or Close To My Heart Artiste cartridges you own.
8. The virtual mat in Cricut^® Craft Room is just like the mat you’ll load into your machine. And, it is oriented the same way that you will load your mat into the machine, with the arrow at the top.
9. To drag an image to the mat, simply click on the image in the image selection tool box and move it to the mat.
10. Once the image is on the virtual mat, you can adjust the placement by clicking on the image and moving it to any location on the mat.
11. Now that you know the basics, you can start creating and exploring the possibilities!

Follow these steps to create the negative space on a card base, like you see on this Cheer Up card, featuring images from the Art Philosophy cartridge:

1. Select the “Card” tab in the Art Philosophy images. Find the card base you prefer and drag it onto the mat. (We used Square 1 for the Cheer Up card.) The image will be cut in the exact direction and location that you place it on the virtual mat. At the top of the screen, or at the left under the “Shape Properties” tab, you’ll see size boxes. Enter the width and height for your shape. This is the size it will be cut on the machine, regardless of what size your machine indicates on the flip screen.

2. Choose an image to cut out of your card front. We have chosen a butterfly by going to the Basics tab, clicking the “Show Shift/Lock Images” at the bottom, and then selecting the butterfly. Drag the image to the right side of the card base, position it, and alter the size, as desired. Once the image is in place, you will see a cut-out image in its place. This Weld feature is automatically on unless you disable it, and allows you to see how the card base will look with your images cut out.

3. Select another image, drag it to the card base, and position it how you’d like it. Continue adding images to the card base, if desired.

4. To cut your finished artwork, load the mat into your Cricut^®machine and insert the corresponding cartridge. Next, press the green Cut button at the top of the computer screen and follow the prompts. The machine will cut the shapes as you have prepared them in Craft Room. If more than one cartridge shape has been added to the project, the machine and screen will prompt you with instructions.

Here are so more artwork examples that have been made using Cricut^® Craft Room software. Follow the instructions below to learn some more fun tricks we used in creating this artwork.

Birthday Greetings card

Here’s how to create the bracket frame as shown in this Birthday Greetings card:

1. Drag a card base from Art Philosophy cartridge and size it to be 9" wide and 4½" high.
2. Add a 1½" bracket frame (from the Basic tab) to the center of the right side of the card. So far, all of the shapes have been placed in Layer 1. You can add additional layers using the Layer feature located toward the top of the screen, directly above the mat. Each Layer will be cut from a separate sheet of paper and is indicated by a different color on the screen. Using the Layer feature allows you to fully design your Cricut^® shapes before cutting any pieces.
3. Add a second Layer by clicking the plus sign. Click and hold the Layer 2 tab and drag the tab to the left so it is first in the row. This allows you to see the second Layer on top of the first so you can visualize your finished project. Drag a 3" bracket frame to the card base and position it over the 1½" frame. Then, still using Layer 2, add a 1½" bracket frame in the center of the 3" frame.
4. Maneuver the Layer 2 frames so that they perfectly line up with the Layer 1 frame. Use your keyboard arrows for exactness.
5. Cut the pieces following the prompts on the computer screen and Cricut^® machine. Layer 2 will be cut first, so be sure to load that paper first. Then load a new sheet of paper for the Layer 1 pieces.
6. Embellish the card as desired.

All Boy page

Want to create a border that spans the entire length of your 12" page? It’s easy!

1. In Craft Room, change the mat size to 12" x 24" under Machine & Mat tab on the left of the screen.
2. Drag your selected border to the mat and rotate it so it is vertical.
3. Change the height of the border to 12". It will automatically change the width proportionally unless you click the aspect ratio button between the width and height measurements.
4. Whether you have a 12" × 24" mat or a 12" × 12" mat, you can use this function with a 12" × 12" piece of paper. Simply place the border as close to the top of the Craft Room mat as possible, but not exactly flush with the top.

5. Cut the piece following the prompts on the computer screen and Cricut^® machine.

To create the title with the letters joined together to form one piece instead of individually cut letters…

1. Drag your letters to the mat
2. Overlap portions of each letter to connect them
3. Use the Weld feature to join the letters together seamlessly.
4. Cut the piece following the prompts on the computer screen and Cricut^® machine.

There are so many possibilities to explore in the Cricut^® Craft Room using the versatile Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges from Close To My Heart! If you have any questions about using Cricut^® Craft Room, visit www.cricut.com where a Cricut^® employee will be glad to help you. Be sure to get your Art Philosophy and Artiste Cricut^®cartridges today in order to create with them in this new and exciting environment!

Round Birthday Card with CTMH Stella plus tip for rolled Roses

With our Art Philosophy cartridge I'm finally starting to get into making round cards because its SOOO much easier to make big circles and other shapes.  Here is another card with our beautiful new Stella pack, sigh... I adore this romantic bohemian paper!

Here's a trick I just figured out for making your 3-D flowers smoosh and loosen up with a natural look:

1. Roll your flower, glue it down (I use a fast drying glue by Aileens for these) and let the glue set up. It doesn't have to be 100% dry but it needs to be holding the shape.

2. Spritz with a light mist of water (I use an empty stamp cleaning spray bottle) and use an acrylic block to smoosh your flower down a bit.

3. Let dry (about 5 minutes) and adhere to your project.

It makes the petals spread out a bit without tearing and flattens the whole flower for a more natural look. I love how it curls the very edges of the petals too!

If you'd like to make this project, get these supplies:

Paper:  Stella

Stamps:  Card Chatter - Birthday

Ink:  Cocoa

Other:  Art Philosophy Cartridge, Sparkles, Silver Glitz Glitter Gel (center of roses), Color Ready Seam Binding

Boy and Girl Layouts with the same stamp set

This is a great video from CTMH corporate showing how versatile stamps are - make the exact same layout but change up colors for a boy or girl look. That's why I *lurve* stamping - its so cost effective when you can use one set over and over again with new colors and new techniques!

Tropical Fish Birthday Card

This card was completely inspired by this card by my fellow CTMH consultant, Leisa at Big Red Scraps.  When I saw it I knew it would be the perfect card for my son's 13th Birthday.  He really wants to visit Hawaii next year so I wanted to give him a tropical fish card and this fit the bill.

I embossed the sentiment and fish in black embossing powder and used the marker blending technique on the two lower fish.  Here is a close up so you can see the blending better.  So what exactly is marker blending? Marker blending is when you use dye based markers (CTMH markers are all dye based) and you put one color next to the other and then use the small tip (not the brush end) and basically pick up dots of the darker color to merge with the lighter color.

So in the example above, I colored the red in the back and the orange in the front of the fish body.  In the center of the fish body, I took the orange marker fine tip and used the dotting technique to blend the two areas together.  On the fish with the blue tail and yellow body you can see the green in the center where I've blended the two colors together.  I know it seems really simple but I was very surprised at how well it worked!  This was one of the techniques taught in the Summer Online Card class I'm taking.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are in for a fun weekend.  My in-laws are coming in on Sunday for a long visit so we're busy getting the house ready for guests.  We're really looking forward to spending time with them as its been a couple of years since they've seen the kids.  I'm sure we'll have lots of fun and I'll take lots of pictures to fill in some of my summer themed layouts!

Hugs,

Paige

Keepsake Holiday Ornament Picture Tutorial - Great to make with the kids PLUS how to get a FREE Stamp Set!

I have an easy and inexpensive project that is perfect for you to do with your kids to give to Grandparents, family or to keep for your own tree.  I've put together a quick tutorial for making a set of keepsake holiday ornaments and best of all - with a $20 supply purchase you'll get a D size $22.95 stamp set for FREE!  I'll tell you more about that at the end!

These ornaments are super easy to make!  I've made a picture tutorial for those of us who are more visual learners.

1. Press the top "hanger" part of the ornament on the edge of your Versamark embossing pad, sprinkle on Silver embossing powder and heat set. 

2.  If you want to add embossing to the center simply place the top onto the ornament to figure out spacing and I found you can stamp right through the opening onto the base chipboard piece.

3. Sponge ink onto ornaments (here I used Sky and Pacifica).  You can see, the embossing pops right through the ink!  Ink the pieces to the desired color.

4. Put a dollop of Liquid Glass on a piece of plastic wrap and use a paint brush to apply a light coat of Liquid Glass and then sprinkle with Prisma Glitter.

5. Using the paintbrush, apply a thin coat of Liquid Glass to the back of the top overlay and glue the two pieces together.

5. Embellish as desired - here I've used our Opaques Pearls

6. Run some ribbon through the top to hang!

Don't forget to have your kiddo sign and date the back!  How easy peasy is that?!?

The larger ornaments also make terrific picture ornaments - simply lay the ornament base on top of the picture you want to use, draw around and cut out. Apply the picture to the base and finish assembly as above. What Grandparent wouldn't love that?

Here is the best part - how you can get the supplies PLUS a free gift for yourself! Right now any order of $20 or more on my website paige.myctmh.com will receive a bonus D size recently retired stamp set worth $22.95 all through the month of December!  Close to my Heart will pick one out and send it with your order at no extra charge!  A project for your kids and a gift for you all in one!

Make sure when you visit paige.myctmh.com that you also check out under the SHOP ONLINE button a section called Discounted Products for some rocking deals on retiring products!

To make sure your order will get there in time, place your order by Monday, 13th December!Materials Used:
 Z1337 - Dimensional Elements Ornaments - $4.95

Z134 - Prisma Glitter - $4.25 (one jar will make a ton of these)

Z679 - Liquid Glass - $6.95 (one bottle lasts most people about a year)

Z697 - Sponge - $1.25 (cut into pieces and use binder clips to make them easier to use for kids)

Z1336 - Opaques Pearls - $2.95 (one package has 108 pearls and will make two or three sets of ornaments)
Subtotal: $20.35 PLUS you'll get a FREE D size $22.95 bonus stamp!
Optional Items:

Z2194 - Sky Inkpad - $5.25

Z2192 - Pacifica Inkpad - $5.25

Z669 - Silver Embossing Powder - $3.95 (one jar will last a very long time)

Z891 - Versamark Inkpad (a sticky glue like pad for the embossing powder to stick) - $9.95

Z555 - Craft Heater - $29.95