CTMH Flower Market Cricut Cartridge and New Papers!

No, this is not a repeat of a recent post, I just wanted to highlight  the other products I used to create this card. Everything except the stamp is from Close To My Heart!  What did you say? You haven't seen this gorgeous paper yet? That's because it just became available today in our new Holiday Expressions Idea Book!

The paper is Swan Lake and you are going to love all the beautiful Fall creations you will be able to make with this paper pack. Be sure you take a look at my CTMH website where you will also find our gorgeous new Christmas papers and the new mini City Sidewalks Digital Cricut Cartridge!!

Speaking of Cricut cartridge, I cut the flowers and wreath on this card with the amazing Flower Market Cartridge from CTMH. You will love every one of the 700 images on this cart!

Inspired Stamps Scripture Card

Time for another visit to Inspired Stamps! For today's card I used the 2x2 Joshua 1:9 stamp. These Scripture stamps are the perfect size for a card. This scripture stamp is one I use often to encourage friends and family going through a difficult time. Be sure to stop by the Inspired Stamps blog to see what the rest of the team created.

Scrapbooking With Inspired Stamps

Inspired Stamps are not just for making cards or art journaling. I love to incorporate the adorable His Little Ones stamps into my scrapbook layouts, especially those of my grand daughter!

Today I used the HLO: Summer Girl stamp to embellish this LO of "K" having fun in the water. I heat embossed the stamp with black embossing powder to create "barrier lines" for watercolors. This allows me to quickly fill in the areas with water colors without them mixing.

Be sure to check out the other creations on the IS blog! 

Tim Holtz Came to Texas!

I, and a friend,  had an amazing experience, last weekend, taking a class taught by Tim Holtz. He finally made it to The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, TX. Carolyn and her crew have the best creative store I have ever been to and they ran an organized and hospitable weekend of classes.

Tim was an excellent instructor who paced his class perfectly and gave personal attention to all 45 students in the class. He offered great feedback and gave out positive comments to everyone's work. Mario is so kind and the hardest worker I've seen and he was not above changing light bulbs or cleaning craft mats.

It was fascinating to see how everyone started with the same basic materials but each made far different projects. I was glad to work with many products that I had wanted to try. The Distress Crayons are one 'product I wanted to try before buying. I loved having their creator telling me how  to use them! They were an integral part of this project and I now have them in my stash.  They were easy to work with and added so much depth to the project. My new fave product for using in Mixed Media is the Collage Medium.We used the crazing style and it added beautiful texture.

This is the result of the 3 hour class. I made this with my grandchildren in mind and I chose osme elements to convey a message. I have a grand daughter and grandson who are represented by the vintage children's photo. They are the children of our eldest son who is represented by the #5, his number from football and baseball days. Of course life is "grand" with these precious babies,  who we "handle with care" and who were "special delivery" from God above.

I had a blast at this class and hope to have the opportunity to take another "Tim" class in the future.

Inspired Stamps Bible Art Journal Stamps

Today I am sharing a card using the Inspired Stamps Colorable Words Bible Journaling stamp set. This set is great for using in your Journaling artwork, especially if you don't like your handwriting. It has several words to stamp and color with your favorite medium. I used a premade watercolor pocket card that already had the gold arrows imprinted on it. I then used a MISTI to align and stamp the words. Last step was to use a waterbrush and watercolors to brush the color over the words. A very quick card to make that packs a punch!

Baby on My Mind-Inspired Stamps

It's great to be back! I have much to share about my absence but for today I am sharing a baby card using Inspired Stamps' HLO Sincerely Girl stamp. I chose to use watercolors and a water brush to color her. It is a relaxing past time and I like the soft, imperfect look.

I chose to do a baby card because it seems babies are being born all around me, including my precious new grandson!.  So, I need to have a good stack of baby cards on hand.

I hope you will stop by the IS Blog and see the other cards using their cute character stamps. 

Stuff Mimi Makes

I have a companion blog that I have started for my creations I make for my grand daughter, Today's post is all about her 1st birthday party decor. Please check out HERE,

New Inspired Stamps

I'm so excited to let you know there are new stamps in the Inspired Stamps store! I am sharing the Bible Art Journaling: Word Mix 4-Christmas Stamp Set. This card shows all but 2 of the words that are available in this awesome set.  I intended to use these words as a background for a fancier card but once I adhered the water colored words to the card base, I just couldn't cover any of it up!

Sometimes simple is best.

Be sure to head to the Inspired Stamps Blog later on Thursday to see the rest of the creations using the other new stamps. I believe the stamps will be available in the Etsy store on Friday afternoon.

Inspired Stamps Panel Card

We are bringing you Christmas Cards this week at Inspired Stamps. I decided to share a panel card using the precious Nativity Stamp Set.

I cut a 6x12 white sheet of cardstock and then scored and folded every 3 inches. I then cut and adhered the banner pieces on each panel. To continue the shiny gold look, I used gold embossing powder on each stamped image and then ran the edges of their mats through Versamark ink and embossed with the gold powder. I love it so much I may have to make more before the big day!

My Favorite Hymn Line Stamp

Inspired Stamps' Design Team has been on extended break but we're back! This card reminds me why I love Inspired Stamps. It is wonderful to be able to utilize these awesome designs in an encouraging card for a friend.

This stamp is Hymn Girl: Armor of God and I simply stamped her on white, cut out and used a sponge dauber to add a little ink around the edges. I used the Joshua 1:9 stamp for the scripture.

Hope  you enjoy this card and are glad to see us back!

I'm Back and with a New Idea Book!!

I don't know if anyone noticed but I have taken a bit of a summer break from blogging but today was a great day to return because Close To My Heart released the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book.  You can see and order all the amazing new goodies HERE.

This easel card was made using the fun and colorful new SANGRIA paper pack and the coordinating Assortment of resin flowers.  I cut the  leaves using the amazing new Artistrry Cricut cartridge from CTMH.

The scripture stamp is from :Inspired Stamps and the calendar pad is from SkyBluePink.

I also wanted to let you know about my new blog exclusively for my creations for my grand daughter. It's stuffmimimakes.blogspot.com

A New Find

I attended the Great American Scrapbook Convention in June. Since I have been a maker for so many years, I always look for something new and different to add to my stash rather than add more of what I have.  I was so excited to find the Darcie's booth with the adorable Tin Pin sets and coordinating stamps. I bought 2 collections and will be ordering more from www.darciesheartandhome.com.

If you haven't seen the tin pins, they are metal printed embellishments with a flat back (no "pin" despite the name). The twist on these are the coordinating stamps that allow you to layer the Tin Pins over strategic parts of the stamped image to create a bit of a 3D effect. Here, I stamped and colored the image and then added the face "pin" over the stamped image. Adorable, right?!

This one uses the cat face "pin". So cute! and you know I adore cute! They have tons of stamps and pins for every holiday, event, etc. And they have designs for all tastes. Be sure to take a look for yourself. I'm not receiving compensation for sharing this, I just loved these so much, I knew many of you would too.

Inspired Stamps Wedding Card

Don't you just love this sweet bride and groom (stamps from Inspired Stamps)?  Each one is less than $5! I used Copics to color part of them but you could even leave them uncolored for an all white card. Here's to happy marriages!

Summer Card with Inspired Stamps

One of my favorite categories of Inspired Stamps is the adorable His Little Ones. Today I am using HLO: Summer Girl. I also used stamps from two versatile sets: More Perfect Sentiments (Hi) and Tags ( the heart and "sending hugs").  

Inspired Stamps Father's Day Card

I actually will be giving this card to my son as a birthday card. He will be turning 21 on Saturday which is difficult to believe! However, the Hymn Line: Father's Day stamp set is perfect for Father's Day cards or other masculine cards. Be sure to take a look at all the Design Team's cards at www.inspiredstamps.blogspot.com.

Inspired Stamps Patriotic Card

I am so thankful for the men and women who have given their lives to protect our country and our freedom. I pray their sacrifice will never be in vain.

Be sure to visit the Inspired Stamps Etsy shop to purchase your patriotic stamps before July 4th. I used the Soldier Boy stamp as well as Joshua 1:9.

Inspired Stamps Graduation Card

I am sharing a graduation card today using a favorite scripture I have quoted my boys throughout their lives. The scripture and sentiment stamps are from the Inspired Stamps His Plans stamp set

Inspired Stamps Grad Card

Welcome to an early Inspired Stamps post. I have several graduates in my life and wanted to share one of the cards I've made for them.  I used one of the adorable His Little Ones stamps today. There are several of these little cuties to choose from.  I also used 1 of the great scriptures from the His Plans stamp set.

Inspired Stamps Alphabet

It's almost Mother's Day and Inspired Stamps has versatile alphabet stamps that allow you to spell out any message.  I used the Colorable Alphabet Stamp set for this card.  Instead of coloring the inside though, I used Stickles to add sparkle to the letters.

I used my CTMH Cricut Artfully Sent cartridge to cut this card and this is the gorgeous inside.

Notepads w/Inspired Stamps

These fun little notepads, using Inspired Stamps 2x2 scripture stamps, are a result of my Spring purging frenzy.  My son and I have been cleaning out closets and scaring away dust bunnies all month! My scrap studio is definitely the most challenging because I hate to waste pretty scraps and bits and bobs of cute stuff ! I was about to toss some index cards from my old school supply stash since my youngest graduated a year ago. Then it hit me that I could save the cards AND some of my scrap stash by combining the two.  

I used my Cuttlebug to die cut the index cards, a piece of patterned paper and a solid piece of cardstock. Stacked them together, hole punched the corners, attached a ring and added a scripture and bits of ribbon and simple embellishments.  The stamps I used were Isaiah 40:31 and Psalm 28:7

Now I have a stash of cute gifts for any occasion!