ABC Blog Hop- Y

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter Y. This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has chosen as their Y element will be featured in their post.

If you came from Catherine then you're on the right track!

For my Y, I chose to share my Yuletide Advent Calendar!

I cut 25 tags on my Cricut in Colonial White cardstock, then added paper from White Pines and a holly bough cut in Fern cardstock from the Cricut Artistry cartridge.



I numbered each tag with a smaller Colonial White piece and used Cranberry, Fern, Chocolate and Glacier inks to stamp the numbers using the retired Magical Day stamp set.



I perforated each numbered piece, and then wrote the daily activity on the underside. Each day, my boys can rip off the number and find out which Christmas activity we will be doing!



These tags are clipped on to my Black Frame using the Mini Clothespins, although I used a red clothespin for the current tag so that my boys will know which one to rip off.



The Yuletide Advent Calendar has joined my Christmas decorated area, along with my other White Pines projects. To see these White Pines projects, please click here.



Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Darlys of Crafty Happy.

In case you get lost along the way…go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!

White Pines Wednesday 4

The last Wednesday of November is here, and so it is time for my final White Pines Wednesday feature!

I don't do a huge amount of Christmas decorating as my son's birthday is a week before Christmas and I tend to have his birthday decorations up, then take them down and decorate after his celebrations. However, I love little things to sit on mantels, shelves and cabinets, and so I set about making some cute little present boxes using the White Pines Paper Packet.

This stack of presents was made using the Artiste cartridge and cutting the standard boxes at &, 8 and 9 inches. I used one side of each paper for the bottom, and the other side for the lid.



I tied the boxes together using some of the Fern Thick Twine, and added a bow from the Glacier Fundamental Assortment on top as a finishing touch.



Now I have a cute stack of presents sitting on my shelf!


These might end up being a gift for a few people too, as they are super cute and easy to make.



I hope you have enjoyed my White Pines Wednesday series- you can catch up on previous posts here.

White Pines Australasian Blog Hop

Welcome to the Australasian White Pines Blog Hop!

f you have arrived here from Denise's Blog, Scrap Stamp Share 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.

I have done 12x12 Papercraft Samplers for each season, as well as Valentines Day, Halloween and Easter. For some reason I did not have a Christmas one, so it was White Pines to the rescue as I set about creating a fun sampler for my home decor display.

Here is the completed sampler- lots of small Christmas themed squares that remind me of a patchwork quilt! The outer piece of paper is 12 x 12, with the Fern cardstock at 11 x 11. The Colonial White squares are 2.5 x 2.5, with the middle squares at 2.25 x 2.2.5 and the smallest inner squares at 2 x 2.



The top left corner features a Cricut cut holly leaves, ornament and wreath, all with cardstock. I love the touches of bling from the Red Enamel Gems and the Gold Fundamental Assortment.



I stamped the title over two sqaures and fussy cut it, then popped it up on 3D Foam Tape. I also stamped and fussy cut a Santas face. The pinecone corner was also double stamped- first in Cocoa ink and then  again in Fern ink for some interest. The Christmas Tree is from the White Pines Complements.



Cricut to the rescue again for the word art cut from Glacier cardstock and the star cut from Cocoa Cardstock. I also added a little present button from the White Pines Assortment. The sweet singing animals are from the White Pines Complements, and I stamped the reindeer from the Reindeer Bells set and coloured him in, adding a red nose of course!



The red bow is from the Cranberry Fundamental Assortment, and the ornaments are stamped in Cocoa ink using the White Pines Scrapbooking WOTG stamp set. The Ho Ho Ho is from the Santa Claus stamp set and stamped in Cranberry ink. I Cricut cut the candy canes. The ornament is from the White Pines Complements, and I finished it off by adding a bow with the Fern Thick Twine.



The finished Papercraft Sampler is hanging in my hall entrance, ready for Christmas!



I love the pop of colour it brings when you walk in the door, and it matches in well with my other Christmas decorations. See that matching box set down at the bottom? Come back on Wednesday when I will share details on how to make it!



I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Katrina's Blog- All things Papercrafty.

To see all of my other White Pines inspired projects, please click here.

Midwinter Christmas Crafting- Rolled Paper Tree

Welcome to the second feature for my Midwinter Christmas Crafting series!

This week I am sharing a cute home decor option that you can easily customise to match your home and furnishings.

To start off, you need a 6x6 canvas. Close To My Heart has a 6x6 Canvas that is perfect for this project.



This is the fun part- choose 8 different papers that you would like to use for your tree. Remember that CTMH papers are double sided so you can get two patterns out of one piece. Cut these pieces into 12" x 4.5", going down in half inch increments to cut pieces at 12" x 4", 12" x 3.5", 12" x 3" etc all the way down to 1".

Taking each piece, add a strong adhesive to the start of the side you want to show and then roll it away from you. Using a pen or knitting needle to roll will help to get the pieces even. Secure each rolled piece with sticky strip or other strong adhesive.



Keep rolling your pieces- they should start to form a tree shape.



Once you are ready to assemble your tree, secure each rolled piece to the canvas with Liquid Glass. Also place some of the Liquid Glass along the side of each piece so that the rolled papers stick together where they meet. This way, you will get a nice, tight rolled look.



Keep gluing until you have placed all your rolled pieces of paper on the canvas in a tree shape.



Decorate as desired.



There you have it- your very own paper Christmas Tree Canvas! These look great with any variety of colours, and you can mix and matched patterned papers to suit.

CTMH supplies used:
Canvas: My Creations 6x6 Canvas Display
Embellishments: Red Enamel Hearts, Silver Sequins Assortment
Paper Packets: Frosted, Snowhaven, Sparkle and Shine
Tools: Liquid Glass

Autumn Banner with Amy Mountney

Recently, I was honored to be asked to collaborate with Amy Mountney. Amy is a UK artist who had based herself within a central vacant space, opposite Central Library, so she could collaborate with passers-by, tourists, artists and local initiatives to create a quirky ‘homely’ installation, and sociable environment, in response to experiencing limitations in making new connections as a city newcomer when she first arrived.

Looking at what constitutes ‘home’ for the city, she collected stories and experiences from those she has met along the way and facilitated the chance for local educational programmes, creatives, projects and businesses to come together in a variety of ways inside the miniature home to discuss ideas.

Amy now hopes to use this experience to inform a new series of works based on her explorations of Christchurch as well as writing a blog she is working on to document her time here.

One of the items I created to place in the Microhouse was this Autumn Banner, as to me cosy seasonal home decor is a staple in my house and makes me feel "at home".



I cut the letters on my Cricut, and added some stamps, die cut and embellishments to create some interest.



The colours remind me of Autumn here in New Zealand, and makes me feel warm and cozy just like when I am at home.



I used Baker's Twine to hang the banner up in my house.



Amy displayed it over this painting in her Microhouse, doesn't it look wonderful?

photo courtesy of Amy Mountney

She also displayed some of my cards and other papercraft items, such as this card here.

photo courtesy of Amy Mountney

My wine bottle holders even featured!

photo courtesy of Amy Mountney

Can you spot my card?

photo courtesy of Amy Mountney

 It was so exciting to be a part of this project, and I loved creating pieces to make the Microhouse envoke feelings of being welcome in a homely space.

CTMH supplies used:
Cardstock: Chocolate, Crystal Blue, Goldrush, Kraft, Pear, Topiary
Embellishments: Bronze Shimmer Trim, Metallic Neutrals Baker's Twine, Sparkles Brown and Tan Assortment
Ink: Chocolate
Paper Packet: Pathfinding
Stamp set: Pathfinding Cardmaking WOTG

Seasonal Expressions 2 Blog Hop

Welcome to our Seasonal Expressions 2 Blog Hop!  We will be featuring products from the new Ideas Book.  If you have come here from Beth's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

This month we have over 40 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this the new goodies and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

I created a frame for my 10 year old niece using the new Blossom Paper Pack. I have included a video on the whole process below.

Here is the finished frame, complete with the shimmer trim.

I love the way the Fundamentals paper pack adds some extra dimension to the BFF circle, and the pink, blue and green work so well together.

Side on, you can see the dimensional 3D foam tape adds an extra touch and makes the embellishments pop.



The stamped butterflies on the frame edge are a subtle touch, but I think they work well with the overall theme. I had so much fun making the 3D flower as well, I will be cutting out more of these in different colours!

I have included full dimensions and Cricut cuts below if you are interested, otherwise you can now "Hop" on over to Chris' Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get your hands on the new products.

Cricut Cuts and meansurements:
BFF- Artbooking 2" RDS p79
Border- Artbooking 1" RDS p49
Flower- Artiste- 3" p55
Green Circle- Artbooking 2" RDS p79
Inner Frame- Artbooking- 6.5" RDS p58
Pennant- Artbooking 9.5" RDS p76
Shimmer Trim- 7" and 1.5"

CTMH supplies used:
Cardstock: Pear, Lagoon, Sorbet
Embellishments: Aqua Dots, Teal Shimmer Trim
Ink: Sorbet
Paper packs: Blossom, Whimsy Paper Fundamentals Assortment
Stamp set: Your Own Kind of Wonderful

Easter Cupcake Wrappers and Recipe

I love everything about Easter, and when I blogged about my Carrot Cake Cupcakes over on my other blog, I had to share the wrappers with you too as they are a Cricut creation!

Here are the wrappers I created using the Artiste Cartridge and Topiary cardstock. I cut these at 3 inches (not real dial size) and managed to get three wrappers per sheet. I then assembled them- I love how the Cricut even cuts slots so they are a breeze to put together!



Here are the wrappers with the finished carrot cake cupcakes inside.



If you would like the full recipe and more details on these cupcakes, please click here to head over to my SAHM I Am blog!

14 Days of Love- Day 12

Each day for 14 days I will be bringing you a project inspired by love!

Today I am sharing a quick and easy Valentines decor idea using the Artiste cartridge. 

The first thing to do is cut the Accent 2 scalloped heart at 5.75" from page 51 of the Artiste cartridge handbook using Ruby cardstock. You will be using the outer layer as your heart- put the inner side away to use on another project if wished. 

You will then need to cut 16 flowers at 3" using yellow Accent 2 on page 54 of the Artiste cartridge handbook. 15 flowers should fit on the finished wreath, but cut one extra just in case!

Use your quilling tool or roll each flower by hand, then adhere to the heart frame using Liquid Glass.

Loop the top of the wreath with a strip of Black Striped Twill Ribbon and hang on your wall!



You could make these bigger or do a few different sized ones to display a collection, or these would also be great as a teacher or neighbour gift.

Come back tomorrow as I will be sharing a pop up Valentines Day card!

My top 10 for 2014

Who would have thought when I started this blog that I would be part of an amazing group of people in the Close To Heart Community? The feedback, comments and love I have received from sharing my projects has been overwhelming and I loved looking back at the top projects this year. Then I thought, why not share them with you?

Coming in at number 10 is this adorable fox card.

Number nine is one of my favourite scrapbook pages documenting my little photobomber in action!

The eighth most popular post for 2014 is this "sweet" gable box.

In seventh place was my experiment with a gel card.

Sitting in sixth place is this festive candy cane wreath, yummy and decorative at the same time!

Another scrapbook layout for number five, this time using the new Heartstrings paper pack.

This floral gift box comes in at number four.

My favourite layout of 2014 comes in at number three, as cupcakes and glitter is always a great combination!

A 60th birthday pop up card makes it to the number two spot.

Finally, in first position and my most popular project, are these gift card holders I made using the Snowhaven paper pack and the October SOTM.

I would love to know which one you like the best! If there is anything you would like to see more of in 2015, please let me know. I also have lots of giveaways, blog hops, link ups and other exciting ideas planned for 2015, it is going to be a crafty year for sure.