True Friends CTMH January Stamp of the Month

So it's been what seems like eons since I sat down to make cards - but over the New Year's holiday, I did just that.  Now I have to admit that I didn't quite know where to start, so I figured I would keep it simple.

I grabbed my leftovers from the recently retired CTMH Life Delights paper pack, coordinating My Stickease, one colour of ink (Chocolate), the brand new True Friends stamp set, some Just Blooms paper flowers and a handful of brads and got to work.

I must say that overall I'm pretty pleased with what I came up with.  True Friends was really fun to work with.  It's a collection of four decorative frames, 3 curly brackets and a few 'friendship' sentiments that make for some pretty nice card elements I must say.  Don't forget though that they would work equally well as a journaling spot or embellishment bases on a scrapbook page also, and I can't wait to put them to use there.

Here are my cards.  The first 2 are 8 x 3.5 inches - a size I just love because they fit in a standard envelope.  They utilize the same basic design structure, but one is rotated 90 degrees.

The next 2 are 4.5 inches square - again using the same basic design with a simple rotation.

And finally, the last 2 cards which are standard 4.25 x 5.5 inches.

Aren't they sweet?

If you are interested, you can purchase True Friends (D1406) for $26.95 through January 31 from your CTMH Consultant, or if you're in Canada, you can pop on over to my CTMH store and pick one up for yourself.  You can also get this stamp set at a discount by adding it to a cart-ful of other CTMH products, or even earn it for free by placing a $117.50 order.

If you'd like to see more artwork with True Friends before you decide - follow this link and you'll see the Spring 2010 Idea Book artwork all the details for discounted Stamp of the Month ordering.

Don't forget - this set is only available in January 2010 - so get your orders in so you don't miss out!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I've had this stamp set in my stash for a while now and oddly haven't used it that all that much. So.....since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and since October is quickly approaching I thought that I would pull it out and get creative. {I have to give a little credit here to Melanie over at Scrappindipity who shared a card with me recently that she had made with the same stamp} and add this to the fact that promos are out looking for supporters to "Run For the Cure" on October 4th so it just seemed fitting.

I love this card design, it's from the card pattern book 'Wishes' by Jeanette Lynton - It is 3" x 6" in size and so is not too big and not too small, but there is ample room on the inside panel for a personal message of support or thanks. The inside of the card is actually an insert, designed to be separate from the card itself, but as an alternative it could be glued in. Here's a better look at how it all fits together.

It's nice to actually have had some time to craft recently and some things to share -sometimes crafty time is so rare. So thanks again for stopping by!

Girlie Birthday

Yesterday I posted a couple of 'man' cards -- so today I thought I would share something girlie. As luck would have it, I recently had ocassion to create a birthday card for my cousin's 10 year old daughter....and it wound up being totally fun. Because I hadn't had a chance yet to play with them, I chose to use the Be Yourself stamp set by CTMH which unfortunately is no longer available (it was a May 2009 Stamp of the Month). Here's the finished product:
Inside the cards reads.....'everyone else is taken'. I stamped the silhouette twice, once in black and once in pink and then trimmed out the pink dress and glued it on top. I just love the way it turned out!

Maculine Birthdays

I think I've said this before, but for me one of the most challenging creative situations is creating masculine cards. There are so many beautiful papers and embellies that are ultra feminine - but for men I find the pickings rather slim. This weekend I had 2 boy cards to make (lucky me!) - one for my nephew who just turned 15, and the other for my step-dad. You would think that just having created a few man cards for Father's Day that I would have had my mojo on, but nope. Creating the man cards was as challenging for me this weekend as it ever has been. Here's the first one I managed to come up with: This was one of those cards that turned out nothing like I had intended it to. When I started out, I was looking to base my design on a card I saw recently in Stamper's Sampler (pg 110, Cherish the Moment by Ronnita Carridine, Apr/May/June 2009 issue - Ronnita doesn't seem to have a blog I can link out to, but she deserves a big shout out anyway!). I absolutley loved the muted background stamping that Ronnita had done and her card was finished simply with two pieces of coordinating ribbon placed near the bottom of the card and a stamped sentiment. Well, aside from the muted background stamping and the fact that I left significant 'white space' at the top of the card, this card evolved into something completely different. I stuck to using mostly cardstock with the exception of the one blue patterned strip. The Outdoor Denim twill tape and the buttons were my answer to adding some texture and dimension and the sentiment is from the soon to be released "It's Your Day" stamp set by Close To My Heart. (The set will be available in August 2009 as the Stamp of the Month). The background stamp I chose was from the set Legendary Moments (also CTMH) and while it's tricky to see in the picture, the background image was stamped a few times with Bamboo ink on Bamboo paper, but some of the images are stamped in 'second generation' so they are much lighter. I thought that this also added a little bit of depth to an otherwise very basic background. The second card that I managed to crank out was for my nephew and I again used the "It's Your Day" stamp set which I'm actually starting to really really like. When I first saw it I wasn't totally convinced that I would use it, but I can see the sentiments especially becoming a quick favourite. It's funny how that happens. Again I stuck with mostly cardstock, adding only that one small piece of patterned paper beneath the sentiment. The background is embossed with the 'Swirls' Cuttlebug folder and the little list up near the top right is adhered with pop dots. The cake itself turned out pretty cute I think. Each layer is a seperate stamp so CTMH has made it easy to make the cake multi-colored. I also really like the fact that the cake is kind of funky too and definately not formal. Very fitting for a 15 year old boy. The color combo (Outdoor Denim, Olive, Heavenly Blue, Bamboo and Sorbet) was another one of those accidental discoveries. It just so happened that the Sorbet ink was sitting on my desk and so I used it. I think that it gave the card just the right pump of bright colour that it needed. I think that without it, the whole thing might have looked rather drab. Tomorrow I'll post the girlie card I got to make this weekend as well. It was reallly fun to pull together. It took me a while and again, it was one of the creations that evolved away from what I had originally envisioned, but all in all it turned out pretty cute. So until tomorrow.

Thanks a Million!

Here's a cheery thank-you that I whipped up on Sunday....I don't know why, but it makes me smile!

There is very little stamping here - just the sentiment and the little flower on the blue square. It was so quick and easy to put together that I actually made 2 of them -- and I will definately be making more of this design. It's a great way to use up all those little bits of scrap!

Enjoy!

Just a Quick Update

Happy Monday Everyone! I just wanted to pop in this morning and share one of the other Father's Day cards that I did indeed manage to create in time for the occasion. I took the no frills approach on this one and based my design on this card on Kathi's Corner, which in turn was inspired by this card on the Cards Blog. Now because I was going for something masculine - as you can see my card looks significantly different than either of those two, but I sure you'll agree that the basic structure is the same.

Sorry that the pic isn't the best --- I am in search of some instructions for improving my art photography.

Father's Day

So I'm a little late (as usual) getting crafty for Sunday's celebrations, but I thought I'd share what is the first of four cards that need to be made.

I have to admit that this did NOT start out any way that it ended up and I think that's part of the reason it took so long. When I initially sat down to create, I intended to use a more traditional masculine stamp set -- but this set (Alfresco by CTMH) was nearby and was calling my name. I have probably owned this set for more than 6 months, and it had never seen ink believe it or not, until now!

I was a little hesitant to use it at first since the centre of the medallion was a small flower and not very masucline, but I decided quickly that covering it was my answer - so I used a small blue nail head. When I inserted it it slipped a bit and so the edges of the flower are still visible on the one side, but it wasn't a big enough boo-boo to warrant doing it again so I left it.

I hope that I you'll agree that it looks masucline enough for Father's Day. I'm still not 100% convinced, but it will have to do. I find it really tricky some times to make cards for men.

Here's the full view.

Now I just need to get busy making the rest of them. Wish me luck.