Close To My Heart Happy Day Workshop

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! I’m making two cards with the Close To My Heart Happy Day workshop.

This is actually a kit from 2017, but definitely still relevant in 2018. I could use ANY cardstock and ANY stamp set to create these cards.
I embossed a layer for one of my cards with the CTMH Leaves embossing folder. Embossing the background layer adds a subtle image to an otherwise plain space without making it too busy.
I used the CTMH B1575 Happy Day stamp set. It’s a really versatile stamp set – shapes, a couple of sentiments, and flowers. You really don’t need a lot of stamps to make cards.
Card #1: The Whisper cardstock piece is 4 x 5 1/4, the floral piece is 3 x 4 1/4, the Saffron cardstock piece is 4 x 2, the white stamped piece is 4 x 1 1/2. The circle is 1”, and the ribbon is 1/4” wide.
I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge, Scattered Straw, Gathered Twigs and Shabby Shutters for the flowers, leaves, and circles.

The ribbon was taped on the back of the base layer and then I tied another piece in a knot. Ribbon is an easy embellishment that adds dimension and interest to a card.
Card #2: The Whisper cardstock piece is 4 x 5 1/4”, the dotted piece is 3 3/4 x 5”, the circle is 2 1/2”, and the green strip is 3 3/4 x 1/2”.
I used a Tim Holtz technique for the circle where you smear ink from the ink pad onto your work surface, spray it with water and dip your paper face down into it. How cool did that come out?

I popped up the circle, flower and banner – another method of adding dimension to a card. I didn’t add any sequins or baubles to the background because I think it’s busy enough already with the multi-color dots.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Brutus Monroe Bountiful Harvest Inspiration Box

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! This is the October 2018 Brutus Monroe Bountiful Harvest Inspiration Box. This is a card inspiration kit and comes with all kinds of products to make beautiful cards.

Above is a picture of the outside of the box – warm, fall colors and images.
Here’s a peek inside the box – orange, brown and black crinkle paper – looks like Cathy packed my box.

How cute is she? Wouldn’t it be cool to have a caricature drawing of yourself????
They’re really generous with the amount of each product they include. There’s a bag of colored baubles in pink, orange, brown and white. One yard of orange satin ribbon. A wheat bunch charm that I can put on a charm bracelet – they sell the bracelets on their website.

Quite a bit of green string and a mini Maple Surface Ink pad.
At the top of this pic are four cards with notches out of the top corners and four mini envelopes. Across the bottom are two each of different shaped cards – perfect for adding sentiments to cards.
This is a 6×8 stamp set called “Autumn Sunrise” – leaves and sentiments. There is also a set of leaf dies that are not the same images as the stamps – but they cut AND emboss as they are run through the embossing machine.
There are four different toner panels that I can foil, color or paint. Honestly, not really feeling the apples . . . BUT, I Love the Pumpkins!!!!
There are two sheets each of Mocha and Tangerine Glitter cardstock – this pic does not do them justice.
There’s always a lot of cardstock included in these inspiration boxes. Above are dark brown, kraft, olive, dark yellow, orange, and dark red.

There are also six sheets of white – I guess I forgot to take a pic???????
The cards I made are not my designs, my inspiration came from the Brutus Monroe blog – check them out.

Card #1: I embossed the sentiment with Brutus Monroe Golden Gourd embossing powder – from the embossing powder subscription – it’s just beautiful. Then I circled the sentiment with die cut leaves – a simple, yet colorful card.
Card #2: The background layer was created with Brutus Monroe Aqua Pigments in Yellow, Yellow Orange and Brown. Then I embossed leaves with the Golden Gourd embossing powder, and wrapped orange ribbon around the layer. Finally, I embossed the sentiment on a card with Brutus Monroe Gilded embossing powder.
Card #3: I foiled a toner card with Gina K Autumn Fancy Foils from the Simon Says Stamp October Card Kit. The sentiment and leaves were embossed with Golden Gourd embossing powder.
Card #4: This background was created by randomly spreading embossing ink around, sprinkling Golden Gourd embossing powder over it and embossing. Then I used a blending tool and filled in the white spaces with the Maple Surface Ink, and added a strip of glitter cardstock along the bottom.

“Warm Hugs” was embossed with Gilded embossing powder, and leaves and baubles embellished the rest of the layer.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Birds of a Feather Card

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! I’m making a Brutus Monroe Birds of a Feather Birthday Card with supplies from one of their card kit subscription boxes.

Above are the cutout pieces – based on the number of pieces, it should be an easy card to assemble.
This is the inspiration for my card – it was created by Heather Broadnax – check out her video.
The background layer was created using a really fun technique where you use a stencil and spread Brutus Monroe Glitter Glaze over it.

The stencil is called Peacock and the glitter glaze is also called Peacock.

This glitter glaze is not available on their website, but there are several other ones that are just as beautiful.
I use this stamp set all the time, unfortunately, it’s not available on their website any more.

I stamped the sentiment on a vellum circle and embossed it with Alabaster embossing powder. Brutus Monroe embossing powder is practically fool-proof – it melts quickly and always looks great!!!
This peacock feather die also came in the Birds of a Feather box – it’s incredibly detailed and it cut through the glitter cardstock effortlessly.
Adhering vellum is always a challenge – I put adhesive behind the letters of the sentiment so it won’t be visible through the vellum.
I glued the feather die cut on the above layer with nuvo Deluxe Adhesive – adhering to the glitter glaze can also be challenging, so I lay a stamp block on top of it for a while so it stays put.
Here’s the finished card. I added some blue and green baubles, also from the Birds of a Feather Kit.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

SVGCuts Barn Party Haunted Barn

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! I’m making the SVGCuts Barn Party Haunted Barn. However, mine is going to be more of a Fall Barn . . .

Above is a screenshot from their website of their version – mine is going to be fall colors and not specifically for Halloween.
This is a screenshot of the files after they were uploaded into Cricut Design Space – Lots of Pieces.

When creating SVGCuts projects, there are two things to remember:

#1 is to change the scorelines from cut to score and

#2 to attach the scorelines to the the pieces.

An awesome feature of SVGCuts files is that they have assembly videos for almost every one of their kits that demos step-by-step – I watch all the way through the video first and then watch, pause, assemble, watch, pause, assemble . . .

Here are the cutout pieces – oh yeah, LOTS of pieces, lol. Remember, one step at a time . . .
These are the pieces for the barn platform.
A smart thing SVGCuts does is create these little boxes that go inside the platform that help stabilize the building.
This is the top side of the completed platform.
These are the side panels.
Check out the adorable lanterns that go on the front and one side.
Here are the assembled barn walls.
Then the barn walls are attached to the platform.
Next is the roof (lid). Here the panels are glued to the roof side sections.
Then the roof side sections are glued to each other.
This is the first time I’ve seen SVGCuts add all these oblong cuts – they are to help lining up the roof side sections with the roof top. They helped keep the overhangs the same all the way around.
This is the tower – an adorable touch to the top of the roof.
Here, the top panels and tower are added to the roof.
Here’s the finished “Fall Barn” – another awesome addition to my fall paper buildings. The corn stalks are actually from when I made the SVGCuts Pumpkin Carriage – they have tea lights inside them and look really cool when they’re turned on.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Tim Holtz Alcohol Lift Ink Cards

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! I’m making Tim Holtz Alcohol Lift Ink Cards, a new (for me) technique.

Above is one of the several card bases I created with the Tim Holtz Alcohol Lift Ink from the Simon Says Stamp October Card Kit. I’m using one of the layers to to make an anniversary card.
I’ve never used Alcohol Ink before to create projects, but it was Fun, Fun, Fun to make them. You can check YouTube for how to do this – apparently it’s been around for a while . . . as I said previously, new to me . . .

Anyway, I created this background with the Stream, Sunshine Yellow and Sunset Orange alcohol inks from the kit.

THEN, I used the Tim Holtz Alcohol Lift Ink, stamped on the alcohol ink background (left piece), AND stamped again on a piece of White Daisy Cardstock (right piece). WHOA, how awesome is that????
After letting it sit for a minute, I used a piece of paper towel and carefully wiped the Lift Ink off, changing the paper towel repeatedly till it was dry – this removes the alcohol ink where it’s stamped and makes the image stand out more.
Here is a closeup.
I cut the alcohol ink layer and the second stamped layer, cut them into thirds, and mixed and matched them so they line up. Doesn’t that look cool?
Here they are attached to card bases. They make really unique cards that flow from one technique to another and then back again.
Here’s the finished card. I added some blue and green bauble from my stash – they matched my color scheme perfectly.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

October 2018 scarlet lime Planner Society Kit

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! The October 2018 scarlet lime Planner Society Kit is here!!!!

I get the Monthly Planner Society Kit Club subscription, as well as the Washi Tape Kit and the Box Sticker Kit. Above is a pic of the box. This is one of two planner kits I get each month – I love them both for different reasons. I love THIS one because it’s floral and girly – if you’re going to work, it may as well be in a pretty space, right?

FYI, I have no affiliation with The Planner Society, I just LOVE their planner kits 🙂
The Washi Tape Kit comes with three rolls of washi that are 30mm, 15mm, and 10mm wide. The roll at the top left has a pink background with gold metallic hearts.

The washi tape on the right is blue and black plaid with gold accents.

The widest washi in the center had a dark pink background with a white floral design.
The Box Sticker Society Kit came in this dark pink paper bag with a white heart design. It includes a half sheet of clipboard stickers, a half sheet of full boxes, a half sheet of half boxes, quarter boxes, and washi strips, and a half sheet of decorative and functional stickers.

The stickers are designed to fit in the Erin Condren, Inkwell Press, Paper Source planner, Happy Planner, and box style inserts from some etsy shops. The full boxes are 1.5” x 2”.
The main Planner Kit came in this beautiful floral designed paper bag. I Love The Florals In This Kit.
The kit also included a roll of washi in the same design as the above paper bag – I Love It; a bottle of sequins in the same colors as the washi; AND a Girl Stamp – eeeeek, she’s holding pumpkins – Loving This.
Not really sure what’s up with the cat, but isn’t it adorable – it shows up on the notepad as well as a planner clip – there are also some cat stickers. That pen is especially awesome, as well.
There are always eight page tabs and four sheets of tab labels.
Here are the die cuts. There are four journal cards (you can write on the back side – it’s blank), and lots of LARGE die cuts. I’m lovin’ the pumpkins and the coffee mugs. How about those Girls????
This is a new item – they’re glitter borders – perfect for the sides of pages – and bows.
Three pockets.
Six doilies – man, aren’t those heart shaped doilies somethin’?????
There are five mini sheets of sticker deco.
Finally, is the paper, which I love, love, love. In the top are the six sheets of patterned paper, and the bottom pic shows two sheets of vellum (green plaid and pink flowers) and one sheet of acetate (gold metallic hearts).
Here’s the monthly spread – I overlaid my favorite plaid cardstock with the gold heart acetate. I use this planner to organize my blog activities – the sticky notes are movable, so I can change my mind about what I’m posting when.
And, this is a weekly spread where I break down what I need to do each week to complete my projects and blogs.

Isn’t this pretty? If you gotta work, it may as well be in a pretty space, right?

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

SVGCuts Fall Weekend Leaf Banner

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! I’m making the SVGCuts Fall Weekend Leaf Banner.

These leaves don’t look like any other leaves I’ve made before – I think that’s because they’re 3D. Aren’t they beautiful? I can’t wait to make them.
Here’s a screen shot of the uploaded files into Cricut Design Space – only six pieces – easy peasy, right?????

When creating SVGCuts projects, there are two things to remember:

#1 is to change the scorelines from cut to score and

#2 to attach the scorelines to the the pieces.

An awesome feature of SVGCuts files is that they have assembly videos for almost every one of their kits that demos step-by-step – I watch all the way through the video first and then watch, pause, assemble, watch, pause, assemble . . .
There are SO MANY scorelines!! To make the leaves look 3D, the scorelines are folded up (mountain folds) or down (valley folds). SVGCuts files come with a pdf, this time they have scoreline fold diagrams – red lines are valley folds and black lines are mountain folds. Above are Pieces 1 and 2.

And here are Pieces 3, 4, and 5.
Here are the cutout pieces – I’m making six leaves because they are HUGE!!!!!

Six should be enough . . . Right?
I did all the mountain and valley folds.
And glued each piece according to the video instructions.
Here I glued Pieces 1 and 2 together.
Added Piece 3.
And Pieces 4 and 5.
All I had to do to finish a leaf was to add the stem.
As I said, I made six leaves – and it was just right. I mean, seriously, how awesome does this look??????

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Cricut Pattern Background Card

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! I’m making a Cricut Pattern Background Card for my husband’s birthday.

Above is a screen shot of the card in Cricut Design Space – the glitter background is a print and cut option that I don’t use enough.

Did you know that you can play around with Cricut Design Space before you own a machine? Just sayin’.
I’m going step-by-step through the process of adding a pattern background to an image. For this card, I wanted a glitter background. I started with a white rectangle.
I selected the white rectangle on the side toolbar.
I changed the white rectangle from “Cut” to “Print.”
When “Print” is selected, two options appear – “Colors” and “Patterns.” When I click “Patterns,” uploaded, purchased, and Access patterns show up, as well as many patterns available for purchase.

I chose the blue glitter pattern and clicked on it – seriously, it was that simple.
My white rectangle now has a blue glitter pattern on it.
At the “Make” screen, the first thing to do is Print my Print and Cut images.
This is what the print screen looks like – choose a printer and number of copies. I always leave the Bleed on – otherwise there may be a white border around the image after it’s cut – the bleed makes ink go beyond the borders of the image.
Here’s a pic of the printed images with registration box around the outside – the Cricut “reads” where the registration box is and that’s how it finds the images.
The light on the Cricut is “reading” the registration box.
Check it out, no white edges around the images, including my background.
I used my favorite adhesive (shown above) on the back of the images.
Here’s the finished card. So . . . the story behind the card . . . we recently got an amazon Echo, and love all the things it can do – it’s so fun to play with. Anyway, this is what it says when you ask it to sing happy birthday – my husband thought it was really funny, lol.

THIS. THIS IS WHY I MAKE MY OWN CARDS.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

November 2018 Cocoa Daisy Kit

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! The November 2018 Cocoa Daisy Kit “Walk in the Woods” is here!!!

I get the Monthly Cocoa Daisy Planner Kit subscription, as well as the Planner Add On and the Classified Kit. Above is a pic of the inside of the box. This is one of two planner kits I get each month – I love them both for different reasons. I love THIS one because it’s always so colorful and uses shapes and patterns throughout their designs – if you’re going to work, it may as well be in a pretty space, right?

FYI, I have no affiliation with Cocoa Daisy, I just LOVE their planner kits 🙂
Here’s a peek inside the box – orange, yellow, washi, what is that? A book?????
There’s always a card that goes with the theme of the box with a box description from Christine on the back . . . “I wanted to bring out the colors and emotions of late fall, the muted tones with a touch of grey, and the wonderful feeling of gratitude that’s in the air this time of year.” So awesome . . .
I get the Planner Add On Kit – btw, none of the items in this kit are in the Planner Kit – they are ALL different.

• sticker elements sheet by Just Jaimee
• general planner sticker sheet by Just Jaimee
• extra sticker sheet by Just Jaimee
• two 3×4 notecards
• one 4×6 notecard
• die cuts by Just Jaimee
• “stripes” washi
• buffalo plaid ribbon bow clip and ribbon bow charm
• tiny leaf long handle rubber stamp
• enamel leaf charm
• two maple leaf sticky note pads
I also get the Classified Kit. This month had a fall watercolor designed pouch with a fringed tassel, yellow alpha stickers, fall deco stickers, a sheet of yellow, green, and orange icat-patterned paper, fox-patterned acetate, a roll of muted fall washi tape, a Simon trading card, and an “Important List” journal card.
And, here’s the big one, the Planner Kit. It comes in a clear, plastic drawstring bag.
This is new . . . It’s a notepad & sticker holder. Oooooooh, this is awesome – I can carry a notepad and pen in my bag without it getting all beat up. Love it!!!! The 3×5 notepad ws designed by arleigh.
I LOVE the pens that come in these kits – they write really nice and they’re not too fat – don’t really like fat pens.

There’s a set of die cuts and six tab die cuts designed by arleigh, and a roll of leaves washi tape also designed by arleigh.

Above are a 5×7 sticker sheet by arleigh, lowercase alpha stickers, tab label stickers designed by Just Jaimee, and date stickers designed by arleigh.
This beautiful acetate is a leaf overlay with gold.
There are six 6×8 papers by arleigh – they are such pretty fall colors.
The kit I get includes a Standard-sized Dori that has a Kraft cover and includes:
◦ Monthly Calendar
◦ 3 lined journaling pages
◦ 11 blank (with design) pages
◦ 10 graph paper pages with 3 sections
◦ 10 unlined paper pages with 3 sections
◦ Last page with design
The final item I got this month is this yellow PenGem that was a special offer for Cocoa Daisy’s Plannerversary – love being part of an organization that makes up their own words, lol.
Here’s my month-on-two-pages spread – I kinda went for a “less is more” this month, lol.
And, this is a weekly spread – it looks nice now . . . by the end of each week, though, there’s some scribbling going on . . .

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

SVGCuts Fall Weekend GeoPumpkin

Hi Guys! Come on in and see what I’m doing today! I’m making the SVGCuts Fall Weekend GeoPumpkin.

Fall decorations are my favorite to make – think about it . . . they can be displayed from mid-September to the end of November – significantly longer than Christmas.

Just sayin’.
Above is a screen shot of the files in Cricut Design Space. Not that many, right?

When creating SVGCuts projects, there are two things to remember:

#1 is to change the scorelines from cut to score and

#2 to attach the scorelines to the the pieces.

An awesome feature of SVGCuts files is that they have assembly videos for almost every one of their kits that demos step-by-step – I watch all the way through the video first and then watch, pause, assemble, watch, pause, assemble . . .
Here are the cutout pieces. There is one brown stem piece – Close To My Heart Chocolate cardstock, one lid piece – CTMH Colonial White, two bottom pieces – CTMH Colonial White, and five pumpkin sections – CTMH Colonial White.

Yeah, so, I chose to make a white pumpkin – my husband questioned my color choice, lol. I’ve seen white pumpkins, haven’t you?
After cutting out the pieces, I sort them according to function – stem, lid, bottom, pumpkin (not a lot of pieces in this project), and then fold along the score lines (there are LOTS of them).
Here’s the lid – don’t you love the twisted stem? If you want to see step-by-step assembly, go to the SVGCuts website.
And, here’s the assembled pumpkin – just need to attach the lid. But first . . . I gotta go scrape the glue off just about every finger, lol.
Here it is, all done – oh my goodness, this is just too awesome for words – and one of the easier SVGCuts projects I’ve made.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and Pinterest board, and I would LOVE it if you would follow me.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .