September/October Catalog New Product Blog Hop

 

Welcome to our Blog Hop where we are featuring NEW seasonal products contained in our September/October Idea Book. Released September 1st, you will find Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed products that are perfect for any of your papercrafting needs. 

If you are coming from Darlys's Blog, you are on the right track. Continue to make your way around the digital circle to see what we have to share with you. Should you get lost along the way, you will find a list of participants here. 

I love when a handmade greeting card comes together so beautifully and without a whole lot of effort. But, who would know the difference unless I told them? LOL I chose to use the gorgeous Pumpkin Spice Collection, incorporating patterned paper, coordinating cardstock, some stickers, Gold Shimmer Trim, a Wood Button and Gold Glitter Gems. 

For the accent stitches around the Paprika cardstock, I did dry embossing. To achieve this look, I turned my paper on the backside, and using a papertrimmer and stylus, I made the stitched markings. Color was removed, to expose the white core, by rubbing them with a sanding block. I love how easy it is to achieve this result. 

AND...I'm totally excited about these Pumpkin Spice Wood Stickers! Who would have known? Their veneer feel are wonderfully different and great to incorporate into your creations.

Now, head on over to CatScrapbooking to see what she has to share with you. Thank you for leaving your comments. We greatly appreciate them!

Happy crafting!

Anything Goes Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to this month's Technique Blog Hop where we use Close To My Heart products to showcase papercrafting techniques. However, this month you are in for a treat as the participants can highlight any of their favorite techniques as we titled this, "Anything Goes". 

If you are coming from Michelle Loncar's Blog, you are on the right track. You can find a complete list of participants at the bottom of this post. 

Here is what I have created to share with you today:

For this card, I incorporated a few techniques such as resist embossing and dry embossing. I'll explain my process. 

Using the August Stamp of the Month, "Tutti Frutti Summer" (shown below), I random stamped the strawberry image, with Versamark Ink (Z891), all over this stitched rectangle. I poured White Embossing Powder (Z2068) all over the images, removed the access powder, and heat set it with the Heat Tool. You can see some of those white strawberries on the area to the far left. 

Then, using the "Picked Raspberry" Distress Oxide Ink, and a Foam Tool, I applied ink all over the White Daisy Cardstock. 

Next, I wanted to distress the pink background by spritzing it with some water. I couldn't put my hands on my water bottle quickly so just sprinkled it with my hands. You can see how I got a little too much, for my liking, in the top right area but it ended up being covered by the Green Apple cardstock in my finished project. 

After I applied the drops of water, I used a paper towel to wipe off the pink ink that had stuck to the white strawberries. By doing so, I left this fabulous result. Don't you love it?! I do! This technique is called "Resist Ink Distressing". 

For the strip of Green Apple Cardstock, I did some dry embossing with my Dual-Tip Stylus Embossing Tool. I put my paper in my paper trimmer and measured off in 1/2" and 1/4" increments. Then, I used a sanding block to distress it for the resulting look. 

Lastly, for the strawberry, I didn't want it to have a black outline. I wanted just the fruit image so I stamped it on cardstock using Ballerina ink (light pink) and then used Tri-Blend Markers to color in the image. I fussy-cut it and used Thin 3-D Foam Tape for added dimension. 

A few Black Dots and I called this fun card "done"! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe even learned something new, or were reminded of a technique you haven't done in awhile.

Now, keep making your way around the Blog Hop and head over to Cat's Blog. I'm confident you'll love what you see there! 

Happy hoppin'! 

List of Participants:

1. Melissa Robinson *YOU ARE HERE*

2. Cat Nowak

3. Darlys Recker

4. Haley Dyer

5. Brandi Robinson

6. Maz Wood

7. Lauren Moore

8. Tamara Sandwisch

9. Katy Taylor

10. Krista Hershberger

11. Jayma Malme

12. Michelle Loncar

Here's To You - Blog Hop

In today's Blog Hop we are featuring products from the "Here's To You" special that is available through August 31st.

The Here's To You special features a workshop kit inspired by life's special occasions which features four exclusive stamp sets designed for making elegant cards and layouts. You can save $17.55 when you purchase the bundle. For details on these available products and to view artwork samples, click HERE.

If you are coming from Wendy's Blog. You can find a complete list of participants by clicking here. 

I chose to keep my card simple for sake of time and to see what I could do with just a few items. I'm please with the result.

There was no way I could pass up incorporating the beautiful Embossing Folder - which you can get as part of the bundle. By using it on Silver or Gold Foil Paper, you get a gorgeous result which can add beauty to any piece of artwork. You'll see that is the case on the samples provided with the Here's To You artwork.

I felt I needed to add a little bit of bling and did so using some retired Purple Shimmer Trim and some Sparkle Dots. Those two touches, with the sponged edge along the sentiment, completed this card.

Keep making your way around the Blog Hop by heading over to Melinda's Blog. We love hearing from you so be sure to take a moment to comment on our posts and let us know your thoughts on what we have to share with you.

I hope your August is off to a great start and that it improves!