Scrappy Chicks

Floral Celebration SOTM

Posted on August 1, 2020 by scrappychicks

Hello and welcome aboard our August Stamp Of The Month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Creative Inspirations Blog then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a few of cards which features Close To My Heart’s August Stamp of the Month – Floral Celebration.

Apologies for the photos – was having a rare sunny day and it was so bright. But looked nicer than my fluros in my craft room.

This happy Tri-fold Card uses the X9017 Mix In Paper Packet combined with the stamp set stamped in a variety of the CTMH Exclusive Ink Colours – Raspberry, Tangerine, Canary, Lagoon and Fern. Plus I’ve added some gold glitter gems. A couple of flowers I stamped in Intense Black and then coloured using the Tri-blend Markers.

This centre opening card uses Charcoal Ink in a combination of first and second generation stamping. I’ve added some silver embellishing thread and an acrylic white heart that is then covered in Stickles for extra sparkle.

This last card was created by heat embossing on the background cardstock – I layered the embossing. Doing the vines first, then the larger flowers and lastly the small flowers. I then sponged ink over the top. The three largest flowers where embossed onto Vellum and fussy cut before sticking down with a glue dot. The sentiment is in Charcoal Ink.

Some creations from the CTMH Art Studio using the SOTM:

This exclusive Stamp of The Month is only available during August .It can be yours for just $9 with a qualifying order of $80 or for $34 if ordered separately from your CTMH consultant.

If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop Lauren’s CTMH Crafting.

Until next time

Happy Crafting

Danielle

Posted in Card Making, Colouring, Embellishments, General, Stamp of the Month, Stamping | Tagged Cardmaking, Cards, Close to my Heart, CTMH, Stamp of the Month, Stamping | 10 Comments

Happiest Place

Posted on July 25, 2020 by scrappychicks

Hello and welcome aboard our Happiest Place Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Scrapping and More with Doreen then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart’s Happiest Place Collection. I’ve approached this is very different way as a challenge to myself. I need three cards to congratulate some new parents.

Whilst not all the babies are boys (two are), I really loved the roller coaster ride that to me really sums up our journey in parenthood. So I paired it up with the matching stickers and acrylic shapes. The BABY was cut using the Classic Alphabet Thin Cuts and the Happiest Place Coordinating Cardstock. This cardstock pack contains some sheets with a variety of silver foiled patterns.

When using the stickers I wasn’t afraid to cut some of them up. The arrow with “love this” originally said “loved this”. I also cut the sun sticker in half and used on two cards. And of course I clustered some, such as the hearts together.

The other project I’m really excited about is the 8 x 11 1/2″ Cut Above Layout Kit. This is a great size. It’s still a work in progress, and I’m still deciding what photos to put in. But it is going to be so much more than a theme park album. I’ve even turned the “Minny Mouse” style red dot bow into a butterfly. It is totally a kit of pieces that you can use as you wish, or follow the fabulous instructions that come with the kit.

Some other Happiest Place artwork from the CTMH art studio…

This exclusive Happiest Place Collection is only available, while stocks last, during July and August. You can purchase the entire Collection for a 20% discount or individual pieces. The full collection is available for $162.50. Contact your CTMH consultant to place an order. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Kimmy Adds Sparkle.

Until next time, happy crafting.

Danielle

Posted in Card Making, Embellishments, General | Tagged Cardmaking, Cards, CTMH, Happiest Place | 5 Comments

Summer Vibes

Posted on July 10, 2020 by scrappychicks

Hello and welcome aboard our Summer Vibes Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from ArtyMaz then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you some creations which features Close To My Heart Featured collection “Summer Vibes”. On this dreary winter day in Melbourne it made me feel a little bit warmer just working with these fun vibrant papers.

Whilst the name suggests “Summer” I wanted to continue working with photos that I’ve been scrapbooking from late 2014 – thus they were a mix of winter, spring and summer photos. So I used the colours as a guide rather than a theme.

When I first started working with the Summer Vibes paper collection I create the Summer Vibes Scrapbooking Workshop Kit. Part of this kit (photos towards the bottom of what those layouts are) involved cutting out a large heart. So for this layout I used the scrap surrounds and stuck it down onto a piece of lemonade cardstock. The flowers were fussy cut from other scraps. In the kit there is an exclusive piece of patterned paper that you don’t get in the normal Summer Vibes Paper Packet. I used the leftovers of this glacier hatched piece to thin cut the title. I’ve raised the photo and title up on 3D foam tape for some extra dimension. This layout is going to be the cover page for the album for the second part of 2014.

The next thing I created was my version of some layouts in a Consultant Designed Workshop that I have access to thanks to CTMH and the resources that they provide us to use with our customers.

Here is some of the other artwork created using Summer Vibes from the CTMH studio. The first photo is the Workshop Kit that I talked about.

This exclusive Summer Vibes Paper Collection is only available until the end of August. while stocks last. The Scrapbooking Workshop Kit can be yours for just $A62. Individual components can be ordered from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop – Passionate About Pages.

Until next time, Happy Crafting

Danielle

Posted in General, Scrapbooking, Workshops | Tagged Close to my Heart, CTMH, Scrapbooking, Summer | 8 Comments

Brushed

Posted on June 25, 2020 by scrappychicks

Hello and welcome aboard our Brushed Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Passionate About Pages then you are in the right place.

If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart Bring Back My Pack collection “Brushed”.

I loved this paper pack the first time it came out a few years ago. And the new version (with updated colours to match our current colour range) has not disappointed. I’ve set about developing a workshop for my customers using these papers, the sticker sheet and the matching stamp sets. My workshop (being offered next month – you can check out my FB page event for more details) features 8 double layouts (and two bonus single layouts) that I made using one Brushed Paper Packet with sticker sheet, the matching coloured cardstock, some white daisy cardstock and the stamps sets. Here is a sneak peak at four of the layouts.

Two of the layouts are similar and this is because I wanted to show how different you can make the same layout design look just by changing up a few elements.

This exclusive Brushed Paper Collection is only available until the end of July, whole stocks last. This special Brushed collection (including stamp sets can be yours for just $AU83. Individual components can be ordered from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, CTMH Craftings.

Until next time,

Happy Crafting

Danielle

Posted in Classes, Embellishments, General, Scrapbooking, Stamping, Workshops | Tagged Close to my Heart, CTMH, Scrapbooking, Stamping | 6 Comments

Stitched Together

Posted on June 10, 2020 by scrappychicks

Hello and welcome aboard our Stitched Together Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Lauren’s CTMHCraftings Blog then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart Featured collection “Stitched Together”.

I created this layout for the participants at my June Virtual Workshop. I used one of my beloved books CTMH Make It From Your Heart Vol 2, Pattern 3. For this layout I used the paper packet and the sticker sheet, plus some blue dots I had in my stash (I think they were left overs from Seas the Day a few months back). Some stickers I have raised with thin 3D foam tape for a little bit of dimension.

As a kit for my customers they all got a share in a sticker sheet – so they may have had different stickers that shown here and the green and white 1/2″ strip is the zip strip. So each person got a different strip. But that is the beauty of our packs they all co-ordinate together so no mater what stickers or zip strip pattern they got it all still went together perfectly.

If you like this layout I still have three kits available at $15 each (which includes postage). You just need to supply the backing cardstock – which could be white or any colour. Just send me a message and I can sort out getting it to you.

One of my customers placed the pieces on a yellow background and because the papers are all double sided she flipped some of the patterns over to suit her photographs.

Here is some other great creations from the CTMH Art Studio using Stitched Together.

If you take a close look at the last three layouts (which are the Workshop Your Way Kit) you will see my beautiful family in the photos of the first layout.

This exclusive Stitched Together Range is only available until the end of June while stocks last. The Workshop Your Way collection can be yours for just $53 (without Memory Protectors, or $62 with Memory Protectors. Individual components can be ordered from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, ArtyMAZ.

Until next time, Happy Crafting

Danielle

Posted in Embellishments, General, Scrapbooking, Workshops | Tagged CTMH, Scrapbooking | 11 Comments

Colouring Techniques with Garden Tags

Posted on June 1, 2020 by scrappychicks

Hello and welcome aboard our June Stamp Of The Month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Doreen’s Blog then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you some different colouring options which feature the Close To My Heart’s June Stamp of the Month “Garden Tags”.

The first step before colouring any stamp in is to choose and ink that suits your colouring medium. So you need to choose something that wont smudge or run. I choose to use the CTMH Intense Black Exclusive Ink. This ink is perfect for wet mediums and for alcohol markers. I do recommend that you stamp first and leave for an hour or so to set/dry completely. These tags also match perfectly with the Tags and Tabs Thin Cuts.

Alcohol Markers – Tri Blend Markers by Spectrum Noir.

I love these markers as you get three colour tones in the same marker. I have choose lighter colours, but in general markers give brighter more intense colours.

When working with the markers I use the darker tone first and add it to the areas that are the shadow areas (denoted by the use of hatching lines – short lines close together that suggest darker tones). I then blend over that the mid tones and finally the lightest tone. As each colour is added I colour over the previous colour and almost push the darker colour forward into the next space. You can also go back over lighter tones with the darker tones to create more distinct lines – see the large leaf.

Water Colour Pencils – DRY

These can be used dry or blended with water. Using them dry is just like using any normal coloured pencil. I personally colour with the light colours first and go back in dark or with a dark pencil in the shadow areas.

Water Colour Pencils – Wet

When I colour with water colours and know that I’m going to blend the colour with my small round water brush, I colour darkly in the shadow areas (picture above left). Then I use the water brush to spread the colour and make it softer in the highlights. Once dry you can also go back over with dry water colour pencil to add more precise details and shadows. CTMH offer a range of watercolour pencils.

Water Colour Paints

Again using the Small Round Water Brush, I mixed my water colour paints and painted the picture. I painted the background wash first and didn’t get worried if I went over some of the finer flowers and leaves. I let it dry before adding colour to the leaves and flowers.

The more water you add to a colour the lighter it gets. The drier your brush the darker the colour.

The beauty of water colour is that you can go back once dry and still add more colour or even take colour away with water.

Waterbased Inks

If you don’t have water colour paints don’t stress. You can create a similar effect using your waterbased inks.

I used the CTMH Waterbased Exclusive Inks and the Small Round Water Brush Again. There are 42 colours in the range.

To do this I squeezed the closed ink pad so that ink is deposited onto the inside of the ink pad lid. I then use the brush just like in my watercolour paints. So more water make the colour lighter, as less water makes the colour darker.

Shimmer Brush with Ink

Another option for the Waterbased Ink Pads is to use a Clear Shimmer Brush to paint the ink onto the paper. It gives you the colour of the ink whilst the shimmer from the Shimmer Brush.

I personally squeeze a drop of the shimmer brush into the lid of the ink pad. Mix it around with the ink and then use the shimmer brush like a normal paint brush. I dip it into the colour and the paint onto the paper.

Shimmer Brush – on its own.

There are currently 15 different Shimmer Brushes in the CTMH range. You can literally paint the colour onto the stamped image.

This exclusive Garden Tags Stamp of The Month is only available during June. It can be yours for just $9 with a qualifying order of $80 or for $34 if ordered separately from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop Passionate About Pages.

Until next time – Happy Crafting

Danielle

Posted in Colouring, General, Mixed Media, Stamp of the Month, Stamping | Tagged Colouring, CTMH, SOTM, Stamping | 14 Comments

Blue Skies

Posted on May 20, 2020 by scrappychicks

Hello and welcome aboard our Blue Skies Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. This paper collection is a special release for May – National Scrapbooking Month.

If you have arrived here from Lauren’s CTMH Craftings then you are in the right place.

If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a number of 12×12 layouts that I created using the pieces that I’d originally cut up to make a 6×8 album. I cut it up a while ago and had got interrupted and didn’t put it together. Then in the midst of a clean up in my craft room I found two other past 6×8 album kits that I hadn’t yet put photos on. So I decided this time to do something a bit different and turn these pieces into 12×12 layouts – as I have been working my way through photos from 2014.

I also added a few wooden embellishments that I had floating around. On a couple of these layouts I grabbed some extra left over pieces to fill spaces. But they are predominantly from the 6X8 kit.

Over the weekend I participated in a CTMH Virtual Album Retreat. For this event I pre-purchased the kit. This contained all the pieces pre-cut for twenty 12×12 pages, three stamps sets (one included thin cuts), a set of stand alone thin cuts, all the embellishments for the pages and page protectors. The layouts were made of a mix of the Blue Skies Papers and Stitched Together Papers. So I’m sharing with you the ones that are Blue Skies predominantly. (I’ll share the Stitched together ones next month.)

I love in this layout have the Diamond colour Stickles have been used – on the top of the white foam ABC stickers and as an edge to the clouds to add a cute extra detail.

Next I’ll share some of the beautiful art work created by the CTMH Art Studio. The first image is the 6×8 album pages that I modified.

During the month of May the Blue Skies collection can be all yours for just $139.50, while stocks last. Individual components can be ordered from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Passionate About Pages.

Until next time,

Happy Crafting

Danielle

Posted in Albums, Card Making, Cricut, Die Cuts, Embellishments, General, Scrapbooking, Workshops | Tagged Cardmaking, CTMH, Dies, Scrapbooking | 12 Comments

Aurora

Posted on May 10, 2020 by scrappychicks

Firstly, Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there. And special hugs to all during this time that are unable to spend this day with their family.

Welcome aboard our Aurora Australasian Close To My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Lauren’s CTMH Craftings then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features the Close To My Heart Featured collection “Aurora”. The layout that I have created is similar to the 4/3/2 layout method for those that are familiar – where you cut 3 different papers into 12″ strips that are 4″, 3″ and 2″ wide. And then you mix the papers up to have a 4″, 3″ and 2″ strip on each layout. These can then be placed vertically or horizontally on the page depending on your needs.

This time around I have use 11″ length strips that are a mix of 3″ and 2″ high. This just leaves a little bit extra white around the edges or in my case the other edge of each side of the layout. It’s a simple repeatable method that you can quickly create a number of layouts if you’re trying to get photos scrapbooked quickly. You can see this design in the Make It From Your Heart Vol 3, Pattern 3. My go to book when I’m needing a quick layout.

In this layout I’ve used the Aurora Papers and Stickers, an Aurora Picture My Life Card and some wooden shapes from a mix of the Wooden Arrows pack.

Here is some more Aurora creations from the CTMH Art Studio.

This exclusive Aurora Product Collection is only available until the end of June, while stocks last.

The Workshop Your Way collection can be yours for just $AU62. Individual components can be ordered from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, ArtyMaz.

Until next time,

Happy Crafting

Danielle

Posted in Embellishments, General, Picture My Life, Scrapbooking | Tagged CTMH, Scrapbooking | 9 Comments

S2005 Time To Celebrate

Posted on May 1, 2020 by scrappychicks

Hello and welcome aboard our “Time To Celebrate” May Stamp Of The Month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from CTMH Craftings then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart’s May Stamp of the Month.

For this Layout I have used the special National Scrapbooking Month papers “Blue Skies” and matching sticker sheet, the new Aurora acrylic shapes and the Stamp of the Month in Candy Apple Ink.

Overall a simple layout to put together – two 6×12″ strips (the lagoon pattern), two 3×12″ strips (the yellow sun pattern), and two zip strips. The photos themselves have been matter onto the Sapphire embossed cardstock that comes with the Blue Skies Paper. It has a beautiful UV embossed pattern. Even the matching sticker sheet has some UV embossing too.

I really love the variety of sentiments in this stamp set and the fact that you can tailor them to almost any occasion and any time of the year. Plus the heart and star icons are super cute too.

This exclusive Stamp of The Month is only available during May. It can be yours for just $9 with a qualifying order of $80 or for $34 if ordered separately from your CTMH consultant.

If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop Doris’ Creative Inspirations.

Until next time,

Happy Crafting

Danielle

Posted in Embellishments, General, Scrapbooking, Stamp of the Month, Stamping | Tagged CTMH, Scrapbooking, Stamp of the Month, Stamping | 10 Comments

Virtual Classes

Posted on April 23, 2020 by scrappychicks

With all the chaos that Covid-19 has bought our lives, I’m happy to see the strength of our crafting communities grow and adapt. Last weekend I ran my first virtual Retreat Weekend. Sadly it was suppose to be my real retreat weekend and I would normally share it with 40 or so crafty women. So instead I ran it virtually and was able to still give all the same types of challenges and activities for people to complete from the safety of their own craft space at home. It was a hit. I had 68 women participate from 3 countries (Australia, USA and Canada). From Australia we were from at least 3 states. We even caught up via Zoom to have a virtual face to face chat. I loved it.

So with the aim of continuing that crafty connection I will be running my usual Saturday Workshops in a similar format via a Facebook Event. I’d love you to join in our next one. It is FREE to join in.

I am also offering an optional kit purchase if you would like to follow along with one of the activities I’ll be offering during the event. The kits are mail order and you just need adhesives and your own backing cardstock. Everything else is provides – the cricut cut pieces and the embellishments.

Cost is $AU15 for one kit or $AU25 for both colour way options. This cost includes postage within Australia only. International customers needs to ask for a postage price.