Playing with Greens

The fun part about commissioned cards is that I can use whatever I want. In this case, I found a few sparkles, embellishments, and I just had to break out my Cricut machine once again.

The inspiration for this card is here: http://nikkispencer-mysandbox.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/just-add-ink-227chipboard.html.

I used Liquid Glass to make the red Baker's Twine behave on the front of the card but it wasn't easy as Liquid Glass takes some time to dry. Then, I cut up a few snowflakes with the Cricut and I used a few snowflakes.

I brought the eyes of the owl and the patterned cardstock inside the card.

Other
* Cream cardstock
* Copics B24, B21, Y11, Y13, Y21, R24, R20
* White cardstock

CTMH:
* Bundled Buddies - retired
* Shinhan Touch Markers R11 and C46
* Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge
* Pear Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Blue and Green Adhesive Rhinestones - retired

The little Christmas Village is lit and the Christmas lights are on!

It's a beautiful blue Christmas...

One of my utmost favorite things about working on custom Christmas cards for my friends and family (or commissioned work) is that I know that each card is one of a kind - even if I'm working on templated Christmas cards, they all come out just a little bit different. The other favorite part? Knowing favorite colors and favorite patterns and being able to tailor the card to each recipient.

The recipient of this card is a huge fan of blue, and blue is one of my favorite colors to work with for Christmas be it cardmaking or decorating. That reminds me it's time to talk my awesome hubby into hanging the Xmas lights this weekend.

Inspiration: Amy of Amy's Paper Crafts - http://amyoneillblog.com/2014/08/16/an-eclectic-mix-with-gesso/ courtesy of PInterest.

I replaced the layered butterflies with layered snowflakes and went to town with the sparkles. I may not have had the frilled ribbon but the bronze shimmer trim seems to fit better in with this card. I can't resist digging through my mystery box of embellishments from catalogs gone by to find the perfect finish to any card.

I brought both patterns inside and had to use the prancing reindeer from the same set as the sleigh on the outside. With a sprinkling of snowflakes, the card was complete. I almost don't want to give this one away but I know it's going to a fantastic home... after all, she and I have been friends through thick and thin for almost 20 years.

CTMH:
* I Believe (retired)
* Merry and Bright (retired)
* Frosted Level 2 Paper Pack (retired)
* Blue and Green Epoxy Adhesive Bubbles
* Bronze Shimmer Trim
* Sparkle Assortment (retired)
* Crystal Blue Ink
* Indian Corn Blue Ink
* Saddle Ink

I'm glad that it's been a little warmer these days but I am sad to hear that Christmas this year may not have any new fallen snow!

I love being able to...

... use stamp sets that I bought on a whim! With the Hostess Reward set "Sing Glory", I was able to come up with the fifth card that I promised my friend. When I use inspirations, sometimes I start somewhere and wind up totally different, and this one was one of those!

Inspiration: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/40884309092309793/ by Cards On The Table With Vicki.

The ribbon is sourced from somewhere... I'm a total ribbon hog! I love Christmas for what it is, but it also winds up being a massive ribbon grab for me! I'll keep anything that looks like it could be card fodder and this red ribbon was no exception.

I brought the patterned cardstock inside the card like I usually do along with the holly leaves and the berries. This was an old retired paper pack from a few years back : Pear and Partridge.

Other:
Kraft cardstock
Red ribbon

CTMH: 
Sing Glory
Holiday Commentary - retired
Card Chatter - Christmas - retired
Pear and Partridge Level 2 Paper Pack
Cranberry Pigment Ink
Ponderosa Pine Pigment Ink
Ruby Ink
Ponderosa Pine Ink

Time to go put up Christmas decorations!

Postage stamp bliss!

I saw this card on a Pinterest board and I knew immediately that I had to case it. It was so adorable with sparkles and snowflakes, but I didn't want to completely copy the card.

Inspiration: http://cloudwplus9.blogspot.ca/2012/12/december-blog-hop.html from Cloud 9 by their guest designer, Maureen!

I replaced the snowflakes with little Angels, and of course I decided to move the sparkles just wherever I felt like it! The ribbon was sourced from something random at my local Michaels.

I brought the pattern inside the card, a cool little sentiment and one more press of the Angel stamp! I really loved how this worked out. I'm always looking for new ideas for the insides of cards.

Other:
* Red ribbon

CTMH:
* Angel Sent set : retired
* Card Chatter-Christmas : retired
* Ruby Ink
* Mistletoe Level 2 Paper Pack : retired
* Red and Pink Adhesive Sparkles : retired

It's getting close to Christmas, I'm singing along with all the carols on the radio!

Pigment Inks and Paintbrushes...

I'm still working away on the commission I had for the 10 cards. My client has gotten pictures of all the ones I've completed so far and he's just loving them.

Inspiration: Pinterest Image with no actual author! https://www.flickr.com/photos/54210777@N05/5838427648/in/faves-25616484@N08/

On the front, I combined two retired paper packs - Frosted and Wonderland with a ton of foam tape for each layer to stand out on it's own. But none of my cards go without that little something on top, so I used the retired Red and Pink Adhesive Sparkles along with some itty bitties. I colored the ribbon and fir boughs with a paintbrush and pigment inks.

This is a first where I've used pattern paper for both parts of the inside of the card. It's simply amazing what you do wind up doing when you just sit at home on a snowy day and fiddle like hell.

Other:
* White cardstock

CTMH:
* Frosted Level 2 Paper Pack - retired
* Wonderland Level 2 Paper Pack - retired
* Yuletide Greetings Set
* Snow Flurries - retired
* Itty Bitty Adhesive Sparkles
* Red and Purple Adhesive Sparkles - retired
* Sweet Leaf Pigment Ink
* New England Ivy Pigment Ink
* Sky Pigment Ink
* Cranberry Pigment Ink
* Desert Sand Ink
* Cocoa Ink

On my schedule - hanging Christmas Lights, breaking out the annual villages, and wrapping presents!

Almost a year later...

.. I can't remember what the inspiration was, but I can definetly say a lot of the stamps and card stock were from the previous catalog. These were birthday cards that were for my brother and sister in law.

First card - for my sweet sister in law in CA!! I couldn't imagine adding a sweeter person to the large family of siblings I am part of either by blood or by marriage.

Only because I spent so much time with the Give A Lift stamp set and La Belle Vie is my favorite paper pack of all time is why I still know the name of the set! I used a plain paintbrush (dollar stores or your local craft stores will carry these) and a bunch of CTMH water based ink pads. Coloring with the pigment inks gives you a deeper color and it's easier to paint with.

Whoops, looks like I never quite took this photo in the correct orientation! I brought a strip of the same patterned cardstock inside and added some floral flourishes.

Second Card - for my little bro in CA. With the deep freeze that shows up from time to time, he was the smarter one and moved down to where it was warmer!

Another set that I spent a lot of time with for my Spring 2014 workshop - Robot Family with Timber Level 2 Paper Pack! I love these little robots and what's even better; husband loves robots, so I will be using this set over and over again :) and even better - the gears are from the Artiste CTMH Cricut cartridge! I can't get enough of how much I love CTMH and how it's held up so well over the years.

Gears are from the same stamp set - they're super cool! And how cheesy is the sentiment? I just had to use it - my little brother is an engineer so totally relevant. And P.S - the red gears were left over from the cuts I did originally for his wedding banquet invites. Waste not, want not.

Are you gearing up for Xmas yet? I certainly am!

Advent Packages!!

I saw the movie on how to make little packages from CTMH which was featured in a previous catalog and they were dead easy to make. A tradition I've had in years past is to buy Advent Calendars, but the chocolate isn't that great and I didn't get around to actually buying them.

So this year, I decided to make my own and use After Eight wafers - the hubby's favorite type of chocolate. He eats them like a fat cat given free reign to treats!

To put these little guys together:

1. Cut out a 4 x 6 rectangle of patterned cardstock
2. Glue the short ends together to create a "toilet paper roll" - use a glue gun!
3. Put your top embellishments together (in my case it was a 3/4 x 3 flag and then I cut the banners from the top of CTMH patterned paper to a length of 3", then I stamped images from Magical Days, cut them out and added that with foam tape).  Adhere to paper roll
4. Pinch one of the ends together and staple shut. I wasn't sure if my little flag would stay on so I stapled that on as well (middle staple)
5. Fill, then pinch the bottom opposite to Step #3 (to create a "triangle") and staple shut.

That's it! I used a variety of current and retired paper packs.

CTMH:
* Magical Days Set
* Pear & Partridge Level 2 Paper Pack - retired
* Snowhaven Level 2 Paper Pack
* Yuletide Carol Level 2 Paper Pack
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Ruby Ink

Can't let you go without letting you know about the latest promotion: Deal of the Decade!

A qualifying order of $50 in product nets you the best deal yet - any C or D size stamp from the Annual Inspirations catalog for 10$! A C size stamp set retails at $15.25 CAD and a D size stamp retails at $19.75, so you could be saving anywhere from $5.25-$9.75. What a steal! And even better yet, $50 also qualifies you for the cute SOTM below : Cutie Pie.

So glad the deep freeze has lifted!

Cyber Monday - 20% off all Cricut CTMH Collections!!

For Monday (Dec 1) and Monday only, CTMH is releasing a first-ever sale of 20% all Cricut collections! That includes

 Artiste

 

Art Philosophy

 Artbooking

Artfully Sent

In case you've ever wondered how I cut all those awesome shapes for my workshops, like those snowflakes, wonder no more - they are located in the Artiste / Art Philosophy cartridges!

And the packages have more than Cricut in them - depending on the package you'll receive cardstock or dimensional elements that coordinate with the cartridge you buy.

Third bonus - you've noticed stamp sets with a red outline on them - that means they have a corresponding Cricut shape! Each stamp set now also tells you what page and which cartridge it corresponds too printed directly on the protective plastic sheet.

Contact me for details!

A musician's birthday...

... a friend of mine also happens to play off and on at Cafe Koi, and on occasion when he shows up with his instrument I keep wondering what really is in that body-sized instrument case. Thankfully he's a good guy or I'd really wonder.

It is about 3 weeks late, but as always I do need to include a vacation photo - we got back from sunny Cancun and miss the sun and warmth already.

One of the pools in the tranquil morning before the liquor and games hit.

So, I saw the Delightful Ditty set in the catalog and just had to pick it up for his birthday card. The inspiration is here: http://heartshugsandflowers.blogspot.ca/2014/09/a-new-challenge.html by Sending Hugs.

I was fiddling with a technique that's actually published in the catalogue - by using any acrylix block, inks, sponge daubers and one of their spray pens / water, I got a really cool distressed look for the violin. I suppose I could pretend they're bass instruments...

Then on the inside, I decided I'd continue the use of the same sponge daubers (12 pack is really worth it!) and got a cool multi-colored violin and sentiment. There is a lot more control over the inks and where they are on the stamp with the daubers, but you do have to work fast.

Other:
* Solid Cardstock
* Embossing Ink

CTMH:
* Delightful Ditty set
* Give A Lift set *retired
* Joyful Birthday set
* Autumn Terracotta Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Sponge Daubers
* Spray Pens
* Blue and Green Adhesive Sparkles *retired
* Metallic Sentiment *retired

And just like that, November is nearly over. I can't wait for the workshop coming up tomorrow!

Sneaky sneaky...

... I didn't realize one of my team members had gotten married until I realized her last name on the door tag had changed! I was hesitant to ask, but nope, it was happy news - she got married! So I decided it was card time. I didn't have to, but I felt like it.

As well, Lest We Forget... I am forever grateful to those who have served, and those who are serving to keep our beautiful country safe and welcoming to live in.

Today's inspiration: http://scrappietoo.blogspot.ca/2014/09/case-study-challenge.html, from Case Study #207. I might have to dig around a bit more in her site - really liking her card style.

I embossed the flowers from an old SOTM onto the vellum, then used the "frosted glass" technique so the colors weren't too crazy. To do this, you stamp the one side of the vellum and emboss, then you color on the back side of it. The little flower I just bunched up a couple of squares of tissue paper from something I had before and attached all the layers together with Liquid Glass.

I used a totally different color technique with the inside - same flower, but this time I watercolored with pigment inks. I didn't want a strong color but I wanted to carry the image inside.

Other:
* Vellum adhesive
* Vellum
* Cream cardstock
* Blue cardstock
* Copic markers

CTMH:
* Jardin (retired)
* Big Hug
* It's The Little Things SOTM ** upcoming!!
* Happy Valentine's SOTM (retired)
* Brown Opaque Pearls (retired)
* White embossing powder
*  Liquid Glass
* Embossing Ink
* Twilight Ink
* Smokey Plum Ink
* Desert Sand Ink
* Cranberry Pigment Ink -- from pigment ink set Adventure
* New England Ivy Ink -- from pigment ink set Enchantment

Hope you are staying warm on this chilly day!

This seems to be a habit...

... getting cards in for a specific deadline before I travel!! Did I mention I haven't packed anything yet? Eek! I can't believe it's getting close to Halloween already and my head is in Christmas. If you want to see what the inside of these cards look like come to the Christmas Workshop!

Date: Nov 22 / Nov 30th
Time: Anytime after 1:00 PM
Address: Email me - stamped.by.hand.ctmh@gmail.com!
Price: $2.00 / card, includes envelope.
Bring: Yourself, scissors, adhesive, and your chequebook.

Please RSVP with Card #, amount of that design you'd like to create and the date you have chosen. 

I'm considering a cash and carry option for some of the cute little embellishments that are featured in this year's Xmas workshops... plus if you know me... there's also going to be a little something extra for all my workshop attendees. Hope to see you all there!

Card #1: Inspiration - Scrappin n' Stamping by GJ

Card #2: Inspiration - Me!! http://stamped-by-hand.blogspot.ca/2014/01/layering-in-all-its-beauty.html

Card #3: Inspiration - Splitcoast Stampers

Card #4 : Inspiration - Case Study 202 Winner! I am so sad that Case Study has been discontinued, but her other blog - Random Acts of Creativity is still alive and well.

Card  #5 : Inspiration -  Craftin`Claire`s Paper Moments

Card #6 : Inspiration - Case Study Challenge 182 by Joni Nina Andaya

Papers featured in this workshop are Snowhaven and Yuletide Paper - look forward to seeing all of you there!

It's always nice to say "thank you..."

Customers make us who we are! With that said, I always include a thank you card with each customer's first order. The recipient of this was no exception and on top of it all she's a lovely, creative lady who I enjoy crafting with! 

Again with the fiddling - I knew that I wanted to use a SOTM (sneak peek) and that I also wanted to use one of the sets I bought because I wanted it, but that I hadn't used. This set takes me back to my very first days with CTMH. What can I say, we met and fell in love.

They compliment each other so well when I use the flourishes as a flower backing the typewriter. If you look really closely, the flourish on the bottom left and the top right are rock n rolled with Twilight and Gypsy ink. Always ink light first, dark second.

For the front of this card I went to town with foam adhesive. To achieve more than one layer, I simply double-stacked the foam adhesive. I couldn't live without this stuff.

I also brought the patterned cardstock inside the card and used a masking technique for the peek-a-boo flourishes. 

Other:
* Solid color cardstock
* Fiskar Edging Scissors

CTMH
* Stamp set from Wishes Workshop To Go - retired
* April 2015 SOTM - Typed Note : to come!
* La Belle Vie Level 2 Paper Pack
* Red and Pink Adhesive Rhinestones - retired
* Twilight Ink
* Barn Red Ink
* Gypsy Ink
* Whisper Ink

Don't go away yet a few exciting things to talk about! This month, with a minimum order of $55 CAD, you can get one of two chevron ribbon rolls for free! Ribbon gives such beautiful dimension to any card or layout and you can use it so many ways.

Secondly if you qualify for this it means that you've hit a minimum of $50 to qualify for this month's SOTM - Home for the Holidays. Most of the images are paired up with CTMH's Art Philosophy Cartridge so you don't have to fussy cut the shapes yourself.

The nights have been nippy but the frost hasn't stayed - here's hoping for at least a few more warm days!

Simple, elegant...

... and did I mention I just cannot get enough of the embossing folders from CTMH? They got debuted in the catalog before Annual Inspirations. I bought a Cuttlebug as I knew my Cricut wouldn't emboss, but little did I know you can do all sorts of things with a Cuttlebug too!

This one was meant to be simple yet still make a statement, and boy did it ever do that. I'm just loving how well the ivory shows off the true colors of the stamped images. And that Baker's Twine - I have so much fun buying random embellishments, and having even more fun using them when occasion calls for it.

I brought the same lady which was stamped in Twilight to the inside of the card.

Other:
* Cream Cardstock

CTMH:
* Fashionista Stamp Set - retired
* Perfect Fit - Mom - retired
* Mother's Day
* Twilight Ink
* Smoothie Ink
* Floral embossing folder
* Baker's Twine

The leaves are changing color and fall is just around the corner - happy Fall!