Mara's Journey: November 2013

CTMH November Blog Hop

Happy Holidays!

Welcome to this month's CTMH blog hop; showcasing the theme of Happy Holidays! The group will be using our current products to create things for the holidays ~ it could be cards, layouts, gifts, decor!! You will see creations from our team that may include stamp sets, patterned paper, inks, embellishments and more from the Close To My Heart Autumn Idea Book and the Holidays From The Heart Gift Guide 2013 (http://cardsbytamara.ctmh.com/Retail/Products.aspx?CatalogID=2155). To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, you can contact myself or check out my web page: http://cardsbytamara.ctmh.com/ to place an order.

Today, I will show you several different cards that we have made in my card classes over the past 2 months! Hope you love them as much as the girls in class loved them!!!

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you get lost you can find your way by going to Brae's blog at Brae Montgomery http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com/2013/11/25-days-of-handmade-gifts-day-17.html or http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com for a full list of participants.

If you came from Lucy Imrie's blog for this month's blog hop: http://lucyscreativeexpressions.blogspot.com/2013/11/creating-for-christmas-brae-ers-team.html then you are in the right place! I'm sure she has done an amazing project that will help inspire you to create new holiday inspired crafts!

Penguins!!!

Here's a quick card I made using the new Hostess set called Wintry Wishes, and paper from the Frosted Paper Pack!

I stamped the penguins in Black ink, then simply coloured their tuques, scarves and skates with markers to match the colour schemes I was going with for each card. The one shown is in orange because the hostess for the month is in love with the color orange!!

Then to add a little shine, I used a Gold Metallic Marker to add stripes and polka dots to their scarves and tuques.

I stamped a few snowflakes onto the Frosted patterned paper in a coordinating color, then added Clear Sparkles to the centers.

The ribbon I used was from my stash, but it matched so well!

And lastly, you can add a little Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel onto the centers of the little snowflakes behind the penguins to give it a bit more sparkle!

Supplies used (all CTMH unless stated):

Paper: Frosted B&Ts Duo Paper pack; Colonial White, Slate, Topiary, Crystal Blue, Ruby CS

Stamp: Wintry Wishes - Hostess Set

Ink: Archival Black

Markers: Ruby, Topiary, Crystal Blue, Cotton Candy, Silver Metallic

Embellishments: Clear Sparkles

Other: Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel, 3D Foam Tape

Not CTMH: Ribbon

You can see other great color ideas for this card from the amazing crafter that I found on pinterest that inspired me: http://wizardshangout.blogspot.ca/2013/10/wintry-wishes-card-set.html

November Stamp of the Month

This card uses the stamp of the month set, Illuminate, November 2013 Stamp of the Month, a set of 15 stamps (S1311).

The base for the wreath is done in Ponderosa Pine Exclusive Inks® Stamp Pad Item Number: Z2145 ink and the pole is done in black ink Z2105. I then used the light string to create the wreath of lights and the half circle of lines to create greenage (in Topiary Exclusive Inks® Stamp Pad) around the wreath. Add the blings (Green & Blue Epoxy Bubbles Z1806 $3.95) to the wreath and lights and the card has some sparkle and shine!! I laid the string down starting from one end. The string didn't completely meet in a circle but I covered the gap with the bow!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Tutorial for a 6" x 4 1/4" Double Side Step Card

A double side step card for a 6″ x 4 1/4″ sized card.

Now for the step by step instructions:

1) Cut a piece of paper/cardstock to 8 1/2″ x 6 “

2) Using the ruler on your trimmer if you have one (or measure with ruler and pencil, and then cut with a sharp craft knife ) cut in 1 1/2 inches in from the long edge of the cardstock from 1″ to 7 1/2 inches along the 8 1/2 inch edge.

3) Turn the paper/cardstock around and do the same on the other side.

4) Using a scoring product (I have used a ScorPal) or measure with a pencil and ruler score the first line between the cut edges at 1″ from the left.

5) Score the next line at 1 3/4′ from the left side.

6) Score the next line at 3 1/2″ from the left.

7) Score the entire paper/cardstock at 4 1/4″ as this is the centre fold of the card.

8) The final scoring line is at 5 3/4 from the left side.

9) Now start folding the crease lines from left to right. I have used the terms ‘valley’ and ‘mountain’ to describe a fold going up or down. The first fold is a ‘mountain’ fold which appears to rise up towards you.

10) The second fold is a ‘valley’ fold. That is the fold goes down away from you.

11) The third fold is another ‘mountain’ fold to create a v-shape.

12) The fourth fold is a ‘valley’ fold.

13) The final fold is a ‘mountain’ fold

14) Finally fold the center folds of the outside pieces as a ‘mountain’ and there you have a double side step card.

You can find great instructions for this card at: http://patriciamanhire.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/tutorial-for-a-6-x-4-14-double-side-step-card/

Sparkle & Shine Paper Packet X7176B
1272 Cranberry Cardstock
1385 White Daisy Cardstock
Z2116 Cranberry Ink
Z1752 Clear Sparkles

C1567 Santa Claus
Polar Bear Holiday C1557

Here is Patricia's card that inspired me (with the reverse paper colors):

C1567 Santa Claus

Sparkle & Shine Paper Packet $9.95 X7176B

One of the sentiments, 'Winter Cheer' and the snowflakes around the words are from the Polar Bear Holiday Stamp Set

Polar Bear Holiday $13.95 C1557

Frosted Spin Card

This card is made from the new Circle Spin Cards and the new mini snowflake stamp.

This card uses the new Frosted paper collection (x7175B) and the single Snowflake stamp (M1031). The center was then embellished with a metal flower from the Base & Bling Gloral Accents (Z1883).

The new Circle Spin Cards work beautifully with the Mini Stamps. The stamp image is the perfect size for the spinning circle!

The Circle Spin cards come complete with envelopes in packs of 10 for $8.95. I love that they are sturdy card bases. You can add whatever embellishments you would like to the circle, which spins when you open the card. I picked out some new bling from the Idea Book to embellish mine with.

M1031 Single Snowflake Stamp Set
X7157B Frosted Paper Pack
Z1866 Circle Spin Card
Z1883 Base Bling Floral Accents
Z2174 Champagne Ink

Design Tip-The Circle Spin card bases are White Daisy in color. I inked my snowflake stamp in champagne ink and stamped in first and second generation ink onto the card base. I then sponged the edges and sponged over the surface of the card to give it more color.

It's a Washi Winter

Washi Tape is so much fun and easy to use!!! I created this really quick card using mostly washi tape in my design and the cute M-size Santa's Greeting stamp.

Recipe:

4 1/4 x 5 1/2 White Daisy Card - Value Pack - X1410

Ruby Cardstock (X5927)

White Daisy Cardstock (1385)

Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape Collection (Z1907)

Santa's Greeting (M1028)

Ruby Alcohol Maker (Z2429)

Black Ink (Z2105)

Cranberry Baker's Twin - Harvest Assortment (Z1751)

I love the Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape! With 15 yards per rolls - that's right 15 yards PER ROLL! you can crank out a lot of cards in just minutes! Add Santa's Greeting and you're done! Some of the girls changed up the colors on the Ho Ho Ho part by adding in greens and silver metallic markers.

You can find the Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape and other great products in our Holiday Gift Guide ~ but only until December 31, 2013!!!

Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape - Z1907

Twilight & Silver Peace and Joy

To make this great card you need to stamp the sentiment and the trees from the Workshops On The Go Frosted Cardmaking Kit in Versamark, then add the silver embossing powder and then heat with a heat gun to set the powder until it is shiny (but don't hold the heat gun too long in one place or you will burn your paper!).

Supplies:

Stamps: My Acrylix® Frosted Cardmaking Workshop Stamp Set (D-size) From: Item Number: G1063 Workshops On The Go® Frosted Cardmaking Kit

Inks: Versamark, Twilight

Cardstock: Twilight, Slate, White Daisy
Extra: Silver embossing powder

Your next stop on the Hop is " Arlene Lonsma's blog with another great Holiday inspired idea:

http://arlenescreativespace.blogspot.com/2013/11/holidays-blog-hop.html

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own projects using some of the designs and paper seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next time!