Design Team Day with Mandie

Hello and welcome to another Design Team Day! Today, Mandie has a nice masculine card for us using Huntington papers. Here's a little peek:

Go see the entire project over at Mandie's Scrappin'! And remember, if she inspires you to go shopping with me, be sure to click the link that says "Mandie's Scrappin' invited me!"

Design Team Day with Amber

Yes, it's time for another Design Team Day! Today, Amber has two projects for us, both using Huntington papers along with some older stamps. Another great example of mixing new and old products together with beautiful results!

 (And have I mentioned how much I love the stitching that Amber always seems to incorporate in her projects?!) Let's head over to her Sew-Ink blog and see her projects in her entirety. Remember, if Amber inspires you to shop with me, be sure to click on the link that says "Amber from Sew-Ink sent me!"

Design Team Day with Lisa

Hello and welcome to another Design Team Day! Today Lisa has a beautiful looking project for us, using Huntington papers.

Let's head over to Lisa's My Creative Endeavors blog to see the whole thing! And remember, if Lisa inspires you to go shopping with me, be sure to click on the link that says "Lisa's My Creative Endeavors sent me!"

Design Team Day with Mandie

Hello! Today I have a share from my DT member Mandie from Mandie's Scrappin'. Looks like she's using Huntington papers based on her sneak peek here:

I don't know about you, but I'm off to see her full project! Remember, if she inspires you to shop with me, be sure to click on the link that says "Mandie's Scrappin' invited me!"

Give Thanks - September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to September's stamp of the month blog hop! If you're here from Jill's Scrap Wench blog, or if you're just starting out, you're in the right place. When  we're done here, let's head over to I Am A Happy Stamper and see what Dawn created for us this month.

Fall will soon be here and I am already getting excited for my favorite season! I love the cooler weather, the great outdoor photo ops, and all of the time we get to spend with family. So when I first saw this month's stamp of the month, I knew right away which stamp I was going to use first. The only real decision was what project to make with it first!

And it was absolutely perfect for this layout! I have to say that if every layout I made could be this beautiful, I would be the most happy scrapper in the world! Of course as usual I started with a sketch, this one from Volume 2 of Make It From Your Heart. I changed it up a bit to fit my pics, but the starting point of a sketch speeds up a ton! On to the details that make me love it so much:

 

Here is that wonderful stamp. To highlight my theme, I stamped it a second time in my contrasting color, made it into a little banner strip, and popped it up on 3-D Foam Tape.  I added some small sparkles (that came in the Huntington workshop on the go kit) to the ends of the banner as well.

I cut this tree from the new Artbooking Cricut cartridge at Fit To Page, which cut the Cocoa brown outlines.  I then stamped on Desert Sand CS using Cocoa ink and the woodgrain stamp from the workshop on the go kit. I cut it by hand to near the size of the tree trunk, adhered the Cricut cut to it using the Bonding Memories Glue Pen, and cut it to size by hand. To see how I cut and laid out the leaves, be sure to check out my mini tutorial at the end of this post.  I added more Sparkles here because I kind of got hooked!

My title is also cut from the same page of the Artbooking cartridge, hand cut more leaves, and added more Sparkles and embellishments. I should point out here that I sponged the edges of all of my papers (except the leaves on the tree because the edges don't show) with matching inks and Sponge Daubers.

I made some photo corners using a punch I have in my horde of tools to pull in a little more of the pattern from the left edge of the layout. Then I tossed on some more leaves, Sparkles, and embellishments.

If you want to skip the tutorial, I'd love to hear what you think, then head on over to I Am A Happy Stamper and keep on hopping!

Now, how to do the tree leaves:

1. Flip tree outline upside down, placing your scrap paper underneath, and trace a leaf.

2. You should have this. Cut around  it, leaving a small border wide enough to glue with the glue pen and narrow enough that two leaves will not overlap.

3. Draw a thin line of glue around the open space of the leaf.

4. Glue leaf down so that pencil line faces you. That way if it isn't lined up perfectly, the line won't show on the front.

5. Repeat in a triangle pattern using different colors until tree is full of leaves. (See how I laid out 3 orange in a triangle pattern, then moved on to the red...)

I filled in the smallest leaves last, trying to make sure no leaves next to each other were the same color. This "random" effect is really a pattern, which makes it easier to achieve the random look we want.

If you're interested in knowing what products I used, here's a handy list (links open in a new window):

• Poster Tidings, September stamp of the month
• WOTG Huntington Scrapbooking Kit
• Extra cardstock in Goldrush and Autumn Terracotta
• Cricut Artbooking cartridge
• Coordinating ink pads (I used Cocoa, Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta, Goldrush, Slate, and Cashmere)
• Sponge Daubers
• Bonding Memories Glue Pen
• 3-D Foam Tape
• Mini-Medley Accents Wooden Collection

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'd love for you to leave me a comment before you go, then let's visit Dawn at I Am A Happy Stamper and see what she created.

Last Minute Mojo Monday

I actually made this card several days ago and forgot to post it! So here I am today, sneaking in to Mojo Monday 303 under the wire. If you don't have time to play along this week, be sure to check out the new sketch tomorrow.  I made this sympathy card:

This is a sneak peek of Close to My Heart's new Huntington papers, one of my favorites from the new catalog!

Here's the sketch from this week:

I stuck to the sketch this time - sometimes simple is better! Here are the details on mine:

I stamped July's stamp of the month, Sweet Life, using cashmere ink, and colored it with dry watercolor pencils. (I think I may go back with a bit of water and blend things a little; I'm not as pleased with that apple as I'd like!) The sentiment from Words of Comfort is stamped in Barn Red ink, with an inside sentiment in the same color.

The two pattern strips here are not paper from the Huntington line, they are stamped with the new Hostess Exclusive - Washi Wonder stamp set (it can only be purchased with Hostess Rewards). The embellishment is a simple wooden badge button from the Wooden Mini-Medley set, and I added a Mocha Opaques gem in the middle. Simple and elegant! I think this whole card would work well with a different sentiment for a man's birthday.

Also, just a reminder, don't forget to "sign your artwork" and let people know their cards are made with care!

I used a pretty stamp and added my initials with a colored pencil, but even a quick signature on the back is a great way to let people know you care enough to make it yourself (or buy handmade!).

That's it for today! Be sure to stop by again - I promise this week I have more projects to post. The crazy of summer has not wound down yet, but I have found some time to craft on a couple of cool days we had when the kids were happy to stay home and play video games!  Some great new product posts are on their way, so beware a little enabling!!