Happy Birthday Oragami Bouquet Card with CTMH Salutation Seals and Blessed

A couple of weeks ago I signed up for the daily craft e-mail from Martha Stewart and in one of the messages there were directions for an oragami flower bouquet card.  Can it get any better than combining my favorite things - card and flowers?!? 

The nice thing about this style of card is that it lets you use up a whole lot of scraps.  I went through all my papers looking for pinks, yellows and oranges on the reverse to give the flowers some texture and pop.  I really think you need B&T paper for these as cardstock would be way too heavy and not allow you to open them up as effectively.  I stamped a flower center from an older set to the center of my squares before folding and trimming and then added a bit of Glitz inside each flower after the card was all assembled.  If you follow the link to Martha's directions (at the bottom of this post) then you'll see my petals are a little different - I cut a V out of the tip to give the petals a more defined shape.

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

Paper:  B&T papers in various color schemes - here I used Hooligans, Bella, Unforgettable and Zippidee

Stamps:  Salutation Seals, Blessed (April SOTM), Tickled Pink (retired)

Inks:  Chocolate, Gypsy

Other:  Small flower punch (Marvy Uchida), 2" CTMH Scallop Punch, 3" Scallop punch, Glitz Glitter Gel, Score Tape or Tombow Power Bond for holding the flowers together, Hollyhock ribbon

If you'd like to check out Martha's directions for making the pop up bouquet (it works best in a 5x7 card by the way - I tried it in a smaller size but the flowers didn't open up enough) then visit this link:

http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2011/05/pop-up-card.html

CTMH Valentine's Day Countdown Day #8 Blog Hop

We're cruisin' on down into the second week of our Valentine's Day Countdown Linky Party so I thought this card would be perfect for today.  This is a little something I made for my hubby - a bit of tongue in cheek for Valentine's Day!

Close up of the car on the front.  I used my new Waterbrush to color in the black embossed image.  I did add a bit of liquid glass to the windshield, tires and headlights but I couldn't quite get it to photograph.  I really, really like my new Waterbrush as I was able to just squeeze the top of the inkpad to get some ink on the lid and then use the waterbrush to pick up color.  Very simple, good control and I liked the results.

Materials Used:
Paper:  Zippidee Level 2
Stamps:  Retired racing set, So Lucky
Ink:  Cranberry, Honey, Indian Corn Blue, White Daisy Marker (for fake stitching)
Other:  Versamark and Black Embossing Powder, Sharpie to outline the word Love, Waterbrush (my new found friend), Liquid Glass

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1. Lela Norris - Day 8 2. Jan M - Blissful Beauty 3. m & m's 4. Susann Taylor 5. Paige Dolecki - Day 8 6. Candy Box 7. Lori Miller - Day 8 8. Single's Awareness Day 9. Trisha Morton -Sweet Baby 10. Valentine Mailbox 11. Donna McGlasson

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CTMH Studio J Layouts using CTMH Zippidee paper

These layouts are from my daughter's 8th grade play.  They put on a production of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi that was really adorable.  I was enlisted by the drama teacher to do the monkey face painting which was a lot of fun and allowed me to be backstage to get some great "getting ready for the production" kinds of shots.  I really wish the large picture of my daughter bowing on the second layout was a bit crisper but it was the best of the bunch.

I played around with the paper colors for this set of layouts A LOT.  One of the fun things I discovered is that you can adjust how strong the pattern comes through when you custom color the background and texture paper.  The black paper on the 2nd layout is actually one of the star papers, I changed the colors and adjusted it darker (there is a sliding percentage bar I used) so the stars are just a bit visible on the real life layout.  I wanted a very subtle background that wouldn't take away from the pictures but would support the whole "star of the show" kind of theme.

This is the end of the 6 new layouts I did for October so I'll start working on my November order now.  I've also got lots of items from my last two Christmas themed Stamp Camps to share as well.  I'll do a photography shoot soon for those.  I came down with some kind of virus last night - hit me like a ton of bricks all of the sudden.  My hubby is working from home today so he could get the kids off to school for me (that says how sick I was last night/this morning because I NEVER ask him to do that).  Worst part is I'm supposed to be testing at Martial Arts tonight!  We have 5 people going for their black belts or their 2nd degree black belts tonight so its going to be a killer and LONG test.  I have until 5:30PM to start feeling human again and decide if I can push myself through a 3 or 4 hour test.

Last Call to get a Ticket to Ride for a Happy B'day with CTMH Zippidee and Ticket to Ride

So most of you know how very, very much I adore our Workshop on the Go kits.  They have a Level 2 paper pack (12 sheets of B&T in 6 patterns and 10 assorted cardstock), a coordinating B size stamp set, a full size accessory, a workshop guide which gives you both a scrapbooking workshop AND a cardmaking workshop - and best of all (be still my frugal heart) its all at a discount!  All the kits are just $29.95 - perfect for a one-a-month budget!

Anyways - where I was going with this is that these puppies only last during the Idea Book cycle (right now they are also giving a one month grace period through the end of September for the summer Idea Book workshop kits).  So - if you haven't picked up your set of Zippiddee (card above used the B size stamp from the kit plus leftover papers), Cherry-O, Spelendor or Passages - don't wait any longer!  Click on those linked names and check them out.  Once you try them you'll see why I love them so much!

If you read yesterday's post about how nervous I was before the Black Belt Club boot camp (total butterflies in my tummy - worse than on testing night) then you are probably wondering if I survived.  Thanks to my darling daughter (could I love that kid more?!?) who worked with me, shouted encouragement and pushed me to succeed, I not only survived - I won the cammo belt this month!  The cammo belt is given to the person who pushes themself the hardest during boot camp - you don't have to be perfect, you just need to give it your utmost and all.  And let me tell you, there is nothing like fearing I'm going to look like a fool to motivate me and make me push myself hard!  My legs and arms were like jelly when I left and today I'm feeling muscles in some pretty weird places (who knew your armpits could get sore?) but its a happy sore.  I think the thing that made me happiest was that two of my kids were there to see me get the belt - there is nothing in the world better than having your kids be proud of you!