Welcome Baby Bee!

Close To My Heart products used: Colonial White, Bamboo Cardstock, Black Ink Pad, Black Marker, Summer Carnival Buttons

Other: Baby Button Bits Stamp Set (Papertrey Ink), Stickles Glitter Glue (Ranger Ink)

Birthdays are the Best!

Close To My Heart products used: Colonial White, Bamboo Cardstock, Black Ink Pad, Star Spangled Blue Marker, Topiary Marker, Summer Carnival Buttons

Other: Blooming Button Bits Stamp Set (Papertrey Ink), Baby Button Bits Stamp Set (Papertrey Ink), Stickles Glitter Glue (Ranger Ink)

Soaring By to Say Hi

This is another button card. As with the chickadee card I sponged the sky background. This is an easy technique. First cut a scrap piece of paper in a large scalloped pattern. Then grab your sponge and blue ink. Start at the top sponging ink and move the pattern down as you continue using your sponge. The finished background will look like clouds!

Close To My Heart products used: Colonial White, Bamboo Cardstock, Black Ink Pad, Crystal Blue Pad, Clover Meadow Ink Pad, Brown Bag Ink Pad, Summer Carnival Buttons

Other: Everyday Button Bits Stamp Set (Papertrey Ink)

Hey There, Chickadee

I spent this weekend in Avalon, NJ at a beach house. If it was June, July or August I would have been soaking up the sun reading a good book with the sound of sea gulls and waves crashing ashore. Ahhhh! However, it is February so instead of beach time I had craft time. It was a papercrafting retreat with 11 other ladies. Many of them Close To My Heart consultants. I spent some of the time using stamp sets I haven't touched yet! I made several button cards that I will be posting this week. The chickadee card is one of those cards.

Close To My Heart products used: Colonial White, Bamboo Cardstock, Love You Forever Stamp Set, Black Ink Pad, Crystal Blue Ink, Cocoa Marker, Sweet Leaf Marker, Blush Marker, Orange Marker, Black Marker, Winter Cozy Buttons

Other: Everyday Button Bits Stamp Set (Papertrey Ink)

Photo Card

I didn't make an actual snowman during this last snow storm, but I could place one in my photo! Using StazOn Ink I stamped an image from Snow Friends onto the photo. Next I stamped it again on a patterned piece of paper and cut out the hat and bird. Then I glued the bird and hat onto the stamped image on the photo. This technique is called paper piecing. I also used a sheet of Close To My Heart's Dutch Blue textured cardstock from the Summer Carnival Collection. What I love about the paper is it's a lighter shade on the inside so it makes a great card base. This paper is the special this month which is benefiting Operation Smile in Haiti. This promotion is doing so well that Close To My Heart has sold out of two color collections!

Martha Stewart Glitter Card Kits

While shopping at my local Walmart I saw these glitter card kits from Martha Stewart Crafts. The chipboard pieces had adhesive so all you needed to do was peel and shake glitter on them. I still prefer using Stickles for glitter, but this was fun to do. My 11 year old nephew helped too!

Shrove Tuesday

It's more widely known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, but I'm Pennsylvania Dutch. So it's Shrove Tuesday and we make fastnachts! This year I wanted to document this family tradition with photos for a scrapbook layout. 

Recipe for Fastnachts

1 1/2 cup of sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup of margarine

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 cups small potatoes, boiled & mashed with water

1 cup of milk

1 package of cake yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup of warm water

flour to make dough (about 12 cups)

Beat sugar, eggs, margarine and salt in a large pan. Add potato water, milk, and yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water. Add flour so that dough can be handled. Let stand overnight. Next morning knead dough and let stnad for 45 minutes. Roll out and cut into portions desired. Let rise for 3 1/2 hours. Fry in hot canola oil until golden brown.

Piece of Cake

I love the February Stamp of the Month, Piece of Cake! I know this is going to be one of those stamps that I reach for often. Of course it works for birthday projects, but I see potential for a wedding card and a thank you treat box too!

Make a Wish 8 x 3 1/2 Card

Close To My Heart products used: Piece of Cake Stamp Set, Wishes - Roundabout Pattern, Baby Pink Cardstock, Tulip Cardstock, White Daisy Textured Cardstock, Patterned Paper from Daydream Level 2 Paper Packet, Archival Black Ink, Blush Ribbon Rounds

Other: Coluzzle for circle, Copic Markers, Various Pens from Sakura

Wedding 6 x 6 Card

Close To My Heart products used: Piece of Cake Stamp Set, Intrinsic Backgrounds Stamp Set, Wishes - Pieced Together Pattern, Lilac Mist Cardstock, Spring Iris, White Daisy Textured Cardstock, Patterned Paper from Daydream Level 2 Paper Packet, Archival Black Ink, Lilac Mist Ink, White Daisy Mini Medley, Spring Blossom Organdy Ribbon Rounds (retired)

Other: Copic Markers, Various Pens from Sakura

You're the Sweetest Thing Treat Box

Close To My Heart products used: Piece of Cake Stamp Set, White Daisy Textured Cardstock, Patterned Paper from Veranda Level 2 Paper Packet, Creme Brulee Cardstock, Archival Black Ink, Creme Brulee Ink & Marker, Ribbon from Veranda Creative Basics Collection

Other: Fold N' Go template (Papertrey Ink), Coluzzle for circle, Copic Markers, Various Pens from Sakura

For You 7 x 5 Card

Close To My Heart products used: Piece of Cake Stamp Set, Wishes - Circle Collection Pattern, White Daisy Textured Cardstock, Juniper Cardstock, Patterned Paper from Perfect Day Level 2 Paper Packet, Archival Black Ink, Juniper Ink, Spring Blossom Mini Medley, Ribbon from Jingle Creative Basics Collection

Other: Coluzzle for circles, Copic Markers, Various Pens from Sakura

Valentine Acetate Box

I made these treats for my niece and nephews for Valentine's Day. The tutorial for this box can be found here.

Close To My Heart products used: Baby Pink Cardstock, Tulip Cardstock, White Daisy Textured Cardstock, Patterned Paper from Jingle Level 2 Paper Packet, Hollyhock Ribbon Rounds, Blush Ribbon Rounds, Solos X Stamp Set, Tulip Ink

Other: Coluzzle for circles, Scalloped Punch (Stampin Up), Acetate

From the Desk Of

 
 
Over the last couple of months I purchased a few My Timeless Templates from Papertrey Ink. This one is called From the Desk Of. After I made the box I decided to make a set of cards to fill it.

Close To My Heart products used: Veranda Creative Basics Collection, Colonial White Cards and Envelopes, Juniper Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Garden Green Ink, Cocoa Ink, Spring Blossom Just Blooms Paper Flowers, Filigree Charms, Juniper Grosgrain Ribbon (from Jingle Creative Basics Collection)

Other: Bloomin Button Bits Stamp Set (Papertrey Ink), From the Desk Of template (Papertrey Ink)

Valentines

These are the valentines I made for my students this year. I got the idea to use the stamps from Life's a Jungle set from this blog. At first I was going to stamp the lion and hippo, but when I opened my Animal Cookies paper packet the idea to cut the animals from the patterned paper came to me. That made these cards super quick and easy! 

Close To My Heart products used: Animal Cookies Level 2 Paper Packet, Life's a Jungle, Black Ink 

Snow Days

Teachers love snow days too! I've spent the last two days "snowed in" and papercrafting. YAY! I did need to venture outside today to shovel my car out. I haven't seen this much snow in quite some time. Here are some pictures. I'll be posting artwork over the next couple of days.

Felicity Box

Close To My Heart's special in January was the Felicity Collection to Celebrate National Papercrafting Month. Well, the whole month whizzed by and I didn't get a chance to make anything using it. In two weeks I'm going on a crafting retreat and need a thank you gift for the hostess. So I dusted off my Felicity Collection and made this box.

The box also uses Close To My Heart's textured cardstock which is on special for this month. It's part of the Hearts For Haiti campaign. Our hearts go out to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, and like so many of you, we’re eager to help. And helping has never been easier! Throughout February, purchase a 12" × 12" textured cardstock combo pack and you’ll get one free—and with every offer purchased, Close To My Heart will donate $2 to Operation Smile’s Haiti relief efforts. That means for only $14.95 you get two packs of our high-quality textured cardstock and you help this urgent, important cause.

Operation Smile is always a fantastic charitable partner—offering free facial reconstruction surgeries to needy children throughout the world. They’ve currently marshaled their medical teams and resources to provide emergency relief in Haiti, and the donations given as part of Hearts for Haiti will be used exclusively for Operation Smile’s efforts in Haiti. For more information on their on-the-ground response, you can visit Operation Smile.


Close To My Heart products used: Autumn Textured Cardstock Combo, Felicity Collection, Nature's Ambience Rub-Ons, Spring Blossom Just Blooms Paper Flowers, Filigree Charms (Items inside the box are Club Connection rewards.)


Other: Captured Card Case (My Timeless Templates from Papertrey Ink)