July Challenge

I generally don't have photos for my workshops, because I want you to visualize where your photos will go! I stamped my personal copy of this layout and added photos, but was too lazy to take it out of the album so here is a layout I put together to copy it! It is available for $7 if you are interested in purchasing it, email me and I will be happy to let you know how much shipping will be to your home. I accept paypal.

Other layouts and kits are also available and will be posted soon.

You can email me thru my website at www.LLWCREATE.MyCTMH.com. Thanks for looking! Cranberry, Star Spangeled Blue and White Daisy CS with red and white ribbon and blue brad all CTMH!

For July, I'm going to challenge you to make a card or layout in Red, White and Blue! Here is a layout we did last July at my Cherish Workshop at Panera Bread on Glenway Avenue. I have a workshop the first Thursday of every month. It is a different theme each time and the layouts are inspired by the Cherish book offered by Close To My Heart. Cherish offers different layouts with full cutting instructions and full-color examples. It also has an index in the front with a snapshot view of the layouts in the book and tells you how many photos will fit in a 2 page spread. I love this feature, because if I have a bunch of photos or only a couple, I can look for the layouts with that number of photos and get my inspiration! I also love the fact that I can turn one or both pages to different positions and have some completely different layouts. That and the use of different stamps, background and texture papers (B&T) and cardstock colors, allows me to make tons of different layouts that are all unique creations!

I have also challenged myself to cut the layout as instructed, and them rebuild a new layout with the pieces I have for a completely different layout! IT IS FUN~ Try it~!

Pirate Layout

My son had a pirate party when he was 4 years old (He is now going into 8th grade) and when we had this new set in the Summer Idea Book, I had to get it. I haven't dug out the photos from his party yet, but I remember we had a treasure hunt and a pinata.

While I was designing the layout, I remembered I had made some ATC cards for an alphabet swap where I got the letter "X" and made X marks the spot at my theme. I used a clip art image from microsoft and modified it and added a small square window from our Spring Idea Book and then added a small jewel from Michaels. You'll see it on the layout as an element.

The colors are Garnet, Colonial White, Olive and Black. There is also a touch of green in the map on the ATC Card. I used out Ahoy Matey stamp set from CTMH for these pages and did lots of stamping and distressing with our exclusive inks.

I plan on adding vellum journaling off the computer to the journal box at the bottom of the second page. I hope I can find the photos soon! We had a flood at out last home and some of the photos were damaged. I'm hoping I have some to add here, otherwise I'll have lots of journaling spaces and will have to improvise with some photos!

Hope you enjoy!

I still have a few Spring Idea books and some summer ones if you'd like to buy one, let me know and I'll be happy send one out to you. My email address is at my website home page: www.LLWCreate.MyCTMH.com

ATC Card with Pure Love Stamp Set

2.5 x 3.5 ATC Card
from Close To My Heart

My Acrylix® Pure Love
1 - 5" x 3 1/2" Twilight CS
1 - 5/8" x 3 1/2" Small Stripe B&T Duos™ Paper (stripes vertical)
Chocolate Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Sponge
1 - 15" Chocolate Waxy Flax
1 - Silver Brad
1 - Just Blooms™ White Daisy Flower
2" x 3 1/2" My Acrylix® Block
Scissors
Sandpaper, coarse

Sponging
Hold the paper in one hand.
Hold the sponge in your other hand.
Pinch the sponge into a ball.
Dab the sponge in the ink pad.
Swipe the sponge on the edge of the paper.
(For a soft look, lightly tap the sponge on the paper.)

Second Generation Stamping
Ink your image on the Exclusive Inks™ pad of choice.
Stamp the image on a scrap piece of paper.
Stamp the image on your project for a lighter color.

Assembly Instructions
Fold the 5" x 3 1/2" Twilight CS in half, creating a top-fold card.

Using Chocolate ink and the sponge, sponge the edges of the card and the 5/8" x 3 1/2" Small Stripe B&T. Lightly sponge the card front.

Using Chocolate ink and the sponge, lightly sponge the petals of the White Daisy flower.

Adhere the 5/8" x 3 1/2" Small Stripe B&T across the bottom portion of the card front, about 1/2" from the bottom edge.

Using Chocolate ink and the second generation stamping technique, stamp the postage image along the top portion of the card, slightly overlapping the B&T.

Wrap the 15" Waxy Flax twice around the B&T. Secure with a knot on the back of the card.

Using the coarse sandpaper, distress the top of the silver brad.
Slide the brad through the center of the flower. Attach the flower/brad combo to the bottom right portion of the card, overlapping the B&T and the Waxy Flax.

I can't take credit for this, our corporate training board had this and I loved it and wanted to share! I love doing ATC Cards and swapping with my friends! I'm building quite a collection. In fact, I used and ATC Card I made for a 12x12 layout. I'll post it later after I've found the photo to post.

6x6 Majestic Layout

I've just completed a couple of projects for a swap using the Majestic papers from Close To My Heart and 3 new stamp sets from the Summer Ideabook and Catalog including New Horizons, Ahoy Matey and Woodcut Alphabet. The colors are Blue Denim, Cranberry, Colonial White and Crystal Blue. I really like how it turned out!

I used the scoring blade of my fiskers paper trimmer to create a crease in the blue mat on the left so that it folds open like a card. I used Colonial White brads to set it off. Underneith is a Colonial White mat for journaling or another photo and I distressed the mat with cranberry ink.

I also used my paper piercer to put a hole in the ribbon from our ribbon rounds on the right hand page, by poking a hole in from the front and then from the back before inserting my brad. To fold the ribbon, I folded it over like a "V" and then folded one side over again so that the strip was face up on each side.

Stamp of the Month Tag

Directions:

My Acrylix® Typewriter Keys
1 - 3 1/2" x 2" Bamboo CS
2 - 1" x 1" Bamboo CS
1 - 2 1/2" x 1 3/4" Distressed Olive B&T Paper
1 - 2 1/4" x 1 1/2" Stripe B&T Paper (solid side)
Chocolate Exclusive Inks™ Pad
1 - 6" Natural Hemp
2 - 5" Natural Hemp
1 - Just Blooms™ Paper Flower
1/4" Long Reach Hole Punch
Corner Rounder
1" x 1" My Acrylix® Block
Scissors

Scissor Distressing
Open your scissors all the way.
Hold your paper of choice in one hand.
In the other hand, hold your scissors so that one sharp edge is toward the paper.
On the edge of the paper, scrape the scissors back and forth along the paper so the white core is exposed, as desired.

Swiping
Hold the ink pad in one hand and the paper in the other.
Swipe the ink pad across the paper, as much or as little as desired.
Repeat on sides and/or edges of the paper.

Assembly Instructions
Using the corner rounder, round the two bottom corners of the 3 1/2" x 2" Bamboo CS.
Using the scissors, cut the top of the Bamboo CS in the shape of a rounded tag. The final tag should measure 3 1/4" (from the tip of the tag to the bottom edge) x 2".

Using the corner rounder, round all four corners of the 2 1/2" x 1 3/4" Distressed Olive B&T and the 2 1/4" x 1 1/2" Stripe B&T.
Scissor distress the edges of the Distressed Olive B&T.
Using Chocolate ink, drag the hemp across the ink pad to distress the hemp with ink.
Using Chocolate ink, stamp the letters "h" and "i" in the center of the two 1" x 1" Bamboo CS. Trim around letters. Scissor distress the edges.

Using Chocolate ink, swipe the edges of all the paper and the petals of the Just Blooms™ flower.
Line up the Distressed Olive B&T and the Stripe B&T (solid side) so there is a small border on all sides. Do not adhere yet. Once the papers are lined up, make a 1/4" cut on the left side of both papers, close to the bottom. Fold up the corners and swipe the folds with Chocolate ink. Adhere the Stripe B&T (solid side) to the center of the Distressed Olive B&T. Adhere to the center of the tag.

Adhere the letters "h" and "i" to the top portion of the tag.
Thread one end of the 6" hemp through the center of the flower, so about 1 1/2" is pulled through the center of the flower. Wrap the hemp around the back of the tag and through the center of the folded corners, leaving the flower in the front bottom right corner. Thread the other end of the hemp through the center of the flower. Tie in a knot to secure. Trim the ends. (The knot in the hemp is what holds the flower in place, so the slit in the flower should be smaller than the knot.)

Using the Long Reach Hole Punch, make a hole through the top of the tag.
Thread the two 5" hemp pieces through the hole and secure like a bookmark.