Love of Travel

I thought I'd crack into some of the paper packs that I have purchased and saved for the right occasion. CTMH tends to retire papers now and again but I always grab a few packs from the current line and use them much later on.

Today's inspiration is another Random Acts of Creativity piece, Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #48.

I wanted to incorporate a bit of heat embossing and a travel theme into this piece. One of my brother's favorite things to do is travel alongside rock climbing and diving and what better than to add a suitcase with a compass on it?

I finished the inside with flourishes from Love Life and I brought the same cardstock patterns inside by way of four little squares, distressed in two different shades of brown - my trusty Chocolate and then Cocoa to darken it a bit more. This turned into a two tone distress which looked really cool.

Wonder how I got those fancy lines on? A ruler and a Sharpie marker!

My Stash:
* Solid color cardstock
* Gold button
* Sharpie

CTMH:
* Love Life
* Just a Number
* Ruler
* Black Embossing Powder
* Blue and Green Adhesive Sparkles
* Mocha Opaque Pearls
* Avonlea Paper Pack Lvl 2 (retired)
* Chocolate Ink
* Cocoa Ink
* Black Ink
* Twilight Ink
* Garden Green Ink

And like that January is out the door and Feburary arrives - with a new catalogue!

So simplistic it's beautiful...

I originally saw this card from Random Acts of Creativity: Sketchbook Challenge #67 but I didn't have the right butterfly stamps!

However I decided to use silver embossing powder which didn't originally show up so well on La Belle Vie, and then I distressed all over it in Gypsy Ink and the stamp just popped up.

I also cut the edges with Fiskars Edging scissors and distressed them in Gypsy. A few gems and all of a sudden it was looking very classy. The photo doesn't do the color of the paper justice. That's what I get for photo-editing on a tiny iPhone screen... my iPad is in Moscow with my husband.

I finished the inside with the same stamp in gypsy along with a sentiment and it was a perfect match to the purple cardstock. Did I mention I have a love affair with La Belle Vie and the Flair stamp?

My Stash:
* Fiskars Edging scissors
* Solid cardstock

CTMH:
* Flair
* Silver embossing powder
* Itty Bitty Clear Sparkles
* La Belle Vie Level 2 Paper Pack
* Gypsy Ink

It's foggy out today!

And the birthdays start again...

With both my brothers having birthdays in January I had to break out all my crafts again, even though they were all put away for the holidays.

However a swift inspiration kick in the back is always welcome and the new Spring/Summer catalogs arrived! They will debut Feb 1st but I will include one new catalog with any order in January.

My inspiration for today had to include planes, as my brother-in-law was once a pilot and still adores them : Mojo Monday : MOJO275

I thought I'd let the paper from Dreamin Level 2 (retired) carry the oomph of this card as it is so beautiful. However I was needing a distress tool and as it turns out, my foot file did the trick. Mind you I think I'll have to include the distress files in my next order. It exposes the white core that is at the center of all CTMH papers for a nice look.

I carried the paper and distressing through to the inside of the card and added a few flourishes, including distressing the middle panel's edges with Pacifica.

My Stash:
* Solid color cardstock
* Blue flower rhinestones

CTMH:
* Dreamin Level 2 Paper Pack
* Horizon
* Just A Number
* Love Life
* Olive Ink
* Pacifica Ink

Finally I should mention the stamp of the month for January - Happy Valentine's before it's too late - it's a beautiful set of roses that would work wonders on any layout or card.

This set is only 5$ with a minimum order of $50 CAD and don't forget about the latest promotion - a Valentine's Day kit for $10 with a minimum purchase of $35.00. 

Stay warm, it's cold outside!

Kicking off 2013 with my very first tutorial

Happy New Year! What better to start off the new year than with my very first tutorial? However, I'm still not happy with the quality of photos that turned out from my camera so any tips from any of you veterans would be greatly appreciated.

The new catalogue will be revealed Feb 2013, but it has just arrived and there's a lot of cool new things in there! 

Recently I saw this tutorial: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/gift_card_holder/  but there were two things that made me wonder.

a) Where would I find coin envelopes? I have never seen them around here...
b) When I watched the corresponding video it actually wasn't the same as the tutorial posted - the flap she used to "close" the holder turned into a circle and she used "snaps" from Stamping Up to close her holder. But this sparked a new idea... why don't I just use it as a base and fiddle until mine worked out (with Close to My Heart materials?)

Here we go!

1. Cut a strip of 2 3/4" x 11" patterned cardstock. Score at 2 3/4", 3", 6 5/16", and 7 1/16" spots.

in this project, I've used Wonderland Level 2 Paper Packet (retired)

2. Fold at each score to create a "matchbook" style cover

3. Cut a strip of cream, white or contrasting 2 1/2" x 7" solid cardstock and score at 3 1/2". Fold to create a pocket. 
4. Using a 1 1/4" circle punch, punch a half circle at the top of the pocket. Secure using two brads, but be careful not to make the opening too small (I usually put the gift card in and then punch the holes for the brads. Stamp a pretty pattern on the top part of the pouch.

5. Tie a ribbon bowtie around the middle of the pocket so the cards stay in there.  Distress the edges if you'd like (this is optional) and then attach to the inside of your cover.

 Ribbon thrifting - this one was from Sunterra :)

6.  Cut a rectangular piece of 2 3/16" x 3 1/2" of contrasting solid cardstock and 3 5/16" x 2" of cream or white cardstock. Adhere the cream cardstock on top of the solid cardstock.
7. Stamp your sentiment, an image, and add a 1 1/4" semicircle to the edge to make it easy to pull out.

8. Punch a 2" scalloped circle out of the same patterned cardstock but use the other side, and a 1 1/4" cream circle. Adhere the cream circle to the scalloped circle. Stamp your sentiment on the circle (I used Perfect Fit from the CTMH Winter 2012/2013 catalogue).

9. Using foam tape, adhere the bottom half of your scalloped circle to the bottom flap of your gift card holder. The top half will be loose so that the top flap of the gift card holder can tuck under the scalloped circle. (or, you can buy Hook and Loop dots from CTMH to adhere the flap to the rest of the holder).

10. Add a ribbon, and you're done!

Another fancy giftholder for this year. :)

Michaels, etc:
* Ribbon
* Solid colored cardstock
* Star brads

CTMH:
* Wonderland Level 2 Paper Pack (retired)
* Pear and Partridge Level 2 Paper Pack
* Scallop circle punch
* Circle punch
* Blue and Green Sparkles
* Merry and Bright
* Perfect Fit - Holidays
* Outdoor Denim
* Barn Red
* Ponderosa Pine
* Key Lime
* Indian Corn Blue embossing powder

May the new year bring you everything you wish for,