Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge 463

It's my FAVORITE sized card over at Mojo Monday this week!!  WOO HOO!!  I know I've said this before, but I just LOVE the 3.5" x 5.5" card size.  I don't know why I do.  Maybe it's because I usually don't make cards that fold at the top, unless it's a Tall & Skinny card and I really like how nice the cards folded at the top look when on display.  I don't know...  But what I DO know is that I really should make MORE like this!!


I have been playing with the NEW Flower Market Cricut Cartridge Bundle (there's a digital version too!) that was introduced in the new 2016 Annual Inspirations catalog (take a peek at it, if you haven't already!) and I am LOVING it!!  This sweet hot air balloon has been calling my name since I first glanced through the images on the cart.  SO as soon as I saw this sketch, I knew EXACTLY which image I was going to use on it!  Well, at least I HOPED that it would work, and it DID!!  Yay me!!


I kept the card fairly simple because I wanted the hot air balloon to be the focal point.  I started with the Glacier dots paper from the Whimsy Fundamentals paper pack and as I was thinking about which other colors I wanted to go with this, I remembered how much I LOVED the colors in the Zoe Paper Pack that just retired (Glacier, Canary, Sorbet, Sweet Leaf and Whisper).  Aren't they just delicious all together?  YUMMY!!  For the outline of the hot air balloon, I used CTMH's White Glitter Paper.  I just LOVE how not only does it add sparkle (yay sparkle!!), but also adds dimension and makes the balloon pop out from the card!  To complete the card, I used a sentiment from the cartridge bundle and a few white gems from the Grey Enamel Gems.

Thank you SO SO much for stopping by!!  

I hope this inspires you to play along with the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge this week and make yourself a Tall & Skinny card!!  It's FUN!  

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen





Wednesday, August 24, 2016

CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop - Fundamentals

Hello and welcome to our CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop. This week our featured products are the new Fundamentals Papers, Fundamentals Complements and the Fundamentals Ribbon Packs.  Have you checked them out??  OH MY GOSH I am in LOVE with their versatility!!  These can be used as a stand alone paper OR be paired with Close to my Heart's featured paper packs.  

If you have just joined us you can start here and continue on, as this is a circular hop or if you get lost along the way you can find the complete list at the end of this post.   If you came here from Donna Digby over at Dat's My Style, you are in the right place. Now on to my project:

I have a couple of different projects I want to share with you!!  The first is a card that I created using the tea pot from CTMH's new Flower Market Cricut cartridge.  This is the first time I have played with this cartridge and I am in LOVE!!  LOL  Initially, this card was supposed to be my featured project for the Fundamentals.  BUT I ended up only using the Canary yellow striped paper.  I mean, I GUESS I did use paper from the Whimsy Fundamentals paper pack... so TECHNICALLY it counts!  lol



I LOVE the White Glitter Paper used as an accent around the tea pot!!  When I first cut out the outline for the tea pot, I used White Daisy CS.  But I got a speck of glue on it, which turned black for some reason, and ended up not being able to use it.  SO instead of cutting out another outline in White Daisy...I remembered I had some White Glitter paper!!  Don't you just love it when mistakes turn out for the better???  

Since I may have failed at "featuring" the new Fundamentals papers, ribbons, and complements with the card, how about a cover page I created to go along with a workshop I am holding featuring the Adventure Fundamentals Paper pack and Good Life Complements.  


This page also features the new Star Thin Cuts.  I used Black Glitter Paper for the outlines of the stars, then adhered them onto patterned paper and cut out the extra paper around the outside of the star.  LOVE the way they turned out and how they complete the page!!


Thank you SO much for checking out my project. If you would like to purchase our featured product of the week or any additional supplies you can buy them here Jen.CTMH.com. If you enjoyed my project please comment below as we love feedback! Next on our blog hop is Corinna Murphy's over at Corinna's Crafts.  Make sure to check out her amazing work featuring this same product.


Thanks SO much for stopping by!!  See you on Wednesday September 7th as we will be featuring the new Thin Cuts!!!   I guess I'm ahead of the game this go round!  lol  But never fear, I will have something else created featuring them!

   3.  Donna Digby
4.  Jennifer Bennett

Hope this has inspired you to try out the new Fundamentals Papers, embellishments and ribbons!!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen


Friday, August 12, 2016

August SOTM Purr-Fect Halloween

Have you seen the August Stamp of the Month "Purr-Fect Halloween??  OH MY GOSH!!  It's SO STINKING cute and right up my alley!!  I LOVE fun, whimsical images and this one is just too much fun to play with!  There are SO many different image options to personalize this kitty.  

The best part is the kitty can be stamped on neutral or colored cardstock, patterned paper, or colored in with markers to create unlimited possibilities as to what your kitty looks like.  After going through all of my options, I decided to go with possibly one of my favorite techniques as of late.  Creating a watercolor background using the "smooshing" technique.  What I love about this technique is that it turns out different each time I use it.  



For this kitty, I painted a yellow/orange color on one of CTMH's clear blocks, then spritzed it with water and applied it to a 3" piece of watercolor paper.  I "smooshed" the block around a bit, then removed the paper from the block.  Once dry, I stamped the kitty image and cut him out.  Easy peasy!!  lol  


I used the AWESOME new Enchantment Fundamentals papers AND the new Star Thin Cuts to create this card.  I LOVE having these new papers in the Annual Inspirations Catalog!  I know they are not CTMH's themed patterned papers that are normally featured in the idea books, BUT I love that they are NOT themed.  I feel that it makes them more functional in my paper crafting.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE themed papers and there will be plenty of those coming up in the new Holiday Expressions coming out next month....BUT the Fundamentals papers, ribbons and complements are the PERFECT addition to the themed papers that we all love so much!  lol


Thanks SO much for stopping by!!

I hope this has inspired you to check out this SUPER cute stamp set!!  Don't forget that it is ONLY available during the month of August!!  You can purchase it for $17.95 OR earn it for just $5 when you place a $50 order.  Either way, you are NOT going to want to miss out on getting this set!!  OH and BTW.... This set does NOT need to be used for Halloween.  What??  You can use the You're One Crazy Cat sentiment OR by pairing it with a Thank You or Birthday sentiment from a different stamp set, it can be used for ANY occasion!!

WHEW!!  

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen




Wednesday, August 10, 2016

CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop - Vacation


Hello and welcome to our CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop. This week our featured theme is Vacation!!  I have to be honest here, as I usually am, I really struggled with the vacation theme.  Maybe that's because when I think of vacation, I think scrapbooking and I haven't done much of that as of late.  BUT I ended up embracing it and think that the pages turned out pretty sweet.  They still look like they could use a few more embellishments, somewhere, but I probably won't go back and add anything!  lol


If you have just joined us you can start here and continue on, as this is a circular hop or if you get lost along the way you can find the complete list at the end of this post.   If you came here from Donna Digby's Blog Dat's My Style you are in the right place. Now on to my project:

I chose to work on some Disney pics from, well from 11 years ago.  UGH!!  How does time go by SO quickly??  Seems just like yesterday that we made our first trip to Disney.  I am LOVING the Magical papers with these pics!  That MAY be because they were meant to go together.  BUT you don't HAVE to use them for just Disney pics!  NOPE!  They can be used for LOTS of other things too!




The page LO that I followed is from the Magic sketch book.  I have always liked this LO and when I was looking at the complements that go along with this paper pack, I envisioned the MAGICAL letters going inside of a circle.  I punched out a 1 3/8" circle from White Daisy CS, then punched out the scalloped circle out of Black Glitter Paper.  I must admit, the punches are SU!'s, but that's ok cuz they worked and that is all that matters!  lol 



Thank you for checking out my project. If you would like to purchase our featured product of the week or any additional supplies you can buy them here Jen.CTMH.com.  Don't forget that Magical is only available, while supplies last till the end of August.  After that, they will be gone FOREVER!!  

 If you enjoyed my project please comment below as we love feedback! Next on our blog hop is Corinna Murphy from Corinna's Crafts.  Make sure to check out her amazing work featuring this same theme!!


1. Lauren Moore- CTMH Craftings
2. Annette Clark - Little Crop Shop
3. Donna Digby - Dats My Style
4. Jennifer Bennett - Jen's Scrappy Pages (me)
5. Corinna Murphy -Corinna Crafts

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!  See you on Wednesday (August 24th) as we will be featuring the NEW Fundamentals paper, complements and ribbons!!!

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!

I hope this has inspired you to just get out your stuff and play with it!  LOL  I really have nothing inspirational to say right now...

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!

Jen

Thursday, August 4, 2016

An Unexpected Fall Card

Is it too early for a Fall card post?  I don't think so!!  I'm trying SO hard not to complain about the heat this summer, especially when I know I will be dying for it to be hot again this winter!  BUT just the thought of the weather cooling down and the days getting shorter, gets me all excited for all things fall!  

Last week, I volunteered to come up with a card using the CTMH's September SOTM for my upline's unit meeting next week.  SO after I quickly finished the SUPER CUTE card that you won't be able to see till NEXT month, I decided to keep the set out and play a little more.  

The September SOTM features stamps using shapes from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge.  I figured as long as I was playing around with the cartridge, I'd go in and see what else I could cut out that would go along with the stamps I was using.  That is when I found the tree image that I have always wanted to play around with, but never got around to it.  



Initially, I cut it out at 4 x 5 1/4 so I could use it to go just a bit inside of a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card front.  I liked the way it looked, but how was I going to come up with different colored leaves without either a. cutting out several of the images in different colors, b. cutting a bunch of different colored CS and adhering them to the back of the tree, or c. color it in with markers or paints.  I opted to color it in with watercolor paints.  BUT as I was TRYING to stay within the lines of the leaves, I discovered that I didn't have to worry about keeping it inside the lines and just use it as a template!!  Yahoo!!  It worked!!  


If you look closely, you will see that the paint did go outside of the lines a bit, but who needs perfect leaves??  LOL  I added a few sparkles just to give it a bit of dimension and added a tiny bit of hemp to the trunk of the tree.  I LOVE the sentiment and can't wait for you all to see the complete stamp set in September, when it becomes available!!

Thanks SO much for stopping by!

Hope this has inspired you to give this technique a try!!  I know I will be trying this with other cricut images!!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen