Convention Swaps Are Underway...

I am so excited, in just a few weeks, I will be driving across the country again out west to Close to my Heart's annual convention. 

This year it is in Las Vegas!

I've been to Las Vegas, once before a few years ago, to visit my husband's family. 

While out there this year, I am going to try to spend some time with them again. 

If you have ever been to a Scrapbooking/Stamping convention, then you know swapping your handmade cards is a big deal!

Last time, I think I swapped over 100 cards. 

My goal this year is at least 50, but I am going to try to reach 100 if I can. 

So since I have such a lofty goal, I knew I needed to go ahead and get started. 

So this weekend, I didn't have much planned, so cards it is. 

Now some folks like to make all of their cards exactly the same, kind of like an assembly line. 

I personally like to make mine that way, but in small batches, then switch the colors, layout, etc. 

So today I am sharing with you my first batch.

I made 6 cards to swap at convention, and a card for a dear friend that is feeling under the weather. 

I used the One-Sheet-Wonder Technique, to create the floral print paper. 

The flowers, and leaves came from the stamp set Beautiful Friendship-Scrapbooking by Close to my Heart.
The cards are all based with the White Cards and EnvelopesValue Pack.

I used Thistle, Smoothie, and Bashful for the two-step stamped flowers and Sweet Leaf for the leaves.

Most of the cards, have the top panel of White Daisy, distressed with Pewter ink.

The "Life is Better With Friends"sentiment came from that same set. 

These were both stamped in Pewter ink. 

The "Simply Beautiful" sentiment came from the "A New Adventure" stamp set. 

This set is so versatile and definitely one of my personal favorites. 

I used our new Thin Cuts- Stitched Ovals and our Thin Cuts- Basic Ovals for the sentiment and them mounted it with 3-D Foam Tape.

These were stamped in Pewter on White Daisy cardstock, then layered on Bashful cardstock.

I used the Grey Gems to embellish a few of the cards.

For the card I am mailing to a friend, I used a layer of Bashful under the three panels of White Daisy I created.

The "A Beautiful Friendship" sentiment came from the "Beautiful Friendship- Scrapbooking" stamp set. 

Each panel was distressed with Pewter ink.

I will start working on my second batch in just a few minutes. 

As I create batches over the next few weeks, I will post them here on the blog to share them with you.

As always if you have any questions at all please let me know.

Lovely Layers-CTMH Technique Blog Hop

One of my favorite color combinations has always been a soft pink and navy. 
So I was absolutely thrilled when Close to my Heart released the 
Beautiful Friendship Collection. 
It has a gorgeous blend of pinks, blues and even floral patterns. 
While, we don't always see Sapphire flowers in nature, they are stunning in this new patterned paper pack. 

I chose this collection to highlight the "Lovely Layers" technique for this month's Blog Hop. 

Not only did I use one of our newest stamp sets to layer my flowers on my card, I also layered my cardstock as well. 
There are also 9 other Close to my Heart Consultants sharing there amazing artwork with you, so please be sure to make your way around the entire Blog Hop. 
You are going to love what you see!

If you are coming from Darlys's Blog, you are on the right track. 
Should you get lost along the way, all participant's links can be found here. 

Before I share my newest card with you, I wanted to highlight the 
Beautiful Friendship Collection. 
There are several components to the collection including the 
Scrapbooking Kit, Card making Kit, Embellishments and more. 

Beautiful Friendship Paper Packet

12 – 12" × 12" sheets (2 each of 6 double-sided designs)

Featured colors: Bashful, Canary, Heather, Linen, Sapphire, Smoothie, White Daisy

For this card I started out with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 Sapphire cardstock card base. 

The Sapphire cardstock is available in individual packs or with several coordinating colors. 

I used a layer of Kraft cardstock. 

Then a layer of the smaller flowers from the Beautiful Friendship paper packet. 

The little horizontal band across the card, is a layer of Kraft and the polka dot smoothie colored paper from the packet.

The circles are layers of Kraft, patterned paper and White Daisy for the sentiment space. 

The little strip of cardstock is Bashful.

The sentiment "Simply Beautiful" actually came from an existing stamp set "A New Adventure".

Which if you recall, I used on a cute space themed card in a previous post.

I stamped the sentiment in Sapphire Ink.

I used the layering flowers and leaves stamps from the "Beautiful Friendship" Scrapbooking Stamp Set.

The shading of the flowers was stamped in Bashful Ink. 

The detailing was stamped in Smoothie ink. 

I hand cut the flowers and leaves out and popped them up on 3-D Foam Tape.

I then also brush each flower with the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

The shimmer is more noticeable in person.

The leaves were stamped with Sweet Leaf, and for those with the stems showing, they were stamped off, then the stems stamped with full ink.

The inside of the card has a layer of both Kraft and Bashful cardstocks.

Finally, I added just a few little pink dot embellishments from the Documented Dots pack.

Thank you so much for stopping by, before heading over to Melissa's Blog, please consider leaving a comment and enjoy the rest of the creative talents in this month's Blog Hop! 

Scrapbooking Birthday Layout From A Workshops Your Way Cardmaking Kit

As most of you that follow my blog know, I am an avid scrapbooker, I have been for over 20 years. As soon as I saw the new Beautiful Friendship Collection from Close to my Heart, I knew I had to have it. 

There are several pieces to the Collection, to include a Scrapbooking Kit and a Cardmaking Kit.

I may not always purchase every stamp set as a consultant, but I do usually take advantage of the Cardmaking kits, and here is why:

-You get an exclusive stamp set that only comes in that kit
-You get several sheets of paper and cardstock that coordinate really well
-You get really cute embellishments that are not always sold seperately
-Right now, all of our Seasonal Expressions 2 kits, are under $20! That is an awesome deal.

The great thing about them is that you do not always have to make cards! That's right, yesterday I attended an awesome National Scrapbooking Day crop with a local Close to my Heart Director. I did make a few cards, but really spent most of my day creating Scrapbooking layouts. 

I will share one of those in this post, and then the another in a second post. 

I ended up using the some of the same photos in each layout to show you how well they both worked. 

The photos will probably end up staying with this first layout. 

The 12 x 12 cardstock used is Bashful, using the darker shade. 

The patterned paper, Bashful cardstock, and Linen cardstock are all sheets from the Workshops Your Way Festive Birthday Cardmaking Kit. 

I also added black cardstock. 

I used Sapphire ink to stamp the sentiment for the layout title. 

I used a little Charcoal ink to distress and age the Linen cardstock on the layout title. 

The second Linen box that is blank will house my journaling once I mount all of the photos permanently. 

And finally I added a few of the ink dots from the Documented Dots embellishment pack. 

I hope you enjoyed my layout, and stayed tuned for the post of the second one. 

Just Thinking Of You "Impossible Card"

If you haven't had an opportunity to watch one of the many videos on Youtube about the new "fancy fold" card, called the Impossible Card, you are truly missing out. 

There are some really nice videos out there, and if my schedule allows, I will try to post one as well. However for now, I'm simply going to share the one I made for a dear co-worker, that's at a different location, that needs some cheering up. 

As most of you know, our current Seasonal Expressions catalog ends at the end of the month, so I wanted to showcase one of our adorable card kits. 

I used Workshops Your Way Something Magical Cardmaking Kit. 

Nearly everything I needed to create this card was included in the kit. Even down to the cute diagonal ombre paper... that is actually pack of the "zip strip" that comes with the paper in the kit.

My base is made out of 100lb. White Bristol Smooth Paper by Canson. 

However all of the other papers and cardstock are from the kit. 

I love that the kit includes several of my favorite colors; Bashful (Color of the Year), Pansy, and Peacock.

The sentiment "Hello Lovely" came from the stamp set "Something Magical" which is included in the Cardmaking Kit. 

I love that each of our kits include an exclusive stamp set, that you can get only with that kit. 

I stamped the sentiment in Thistle, to help bring out the Pansy purple color in the patterned paper. You can also get the coordinating "Make Waves" paper packet to go along with this Cardmaking kit.

For a final touch, I added two of the little sequins flowers from the "Make Waves Sequins & Gems" pack included in the kit.

I hope you enjoyed my card, and I would love to see what you create from your kit or your Impossible Card design in general. 

Thank you for stopping by and Happy Stamping!

New Color of the Year ~ Bashful

Here it is, the new color of the year... 

Bashful! I can't wait to get it and start creating...