Anything Goes Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to our Technique Blog Hop!  This month there are 11 of us highlighting any technique we would like to share- anything goes!

This blog hop is a great big circle so you can start wherever you want and continue through to see all the fabulous artwork incorporating this technique.

If you are coming from Maz' Blog you are on the right track! 

I love making my own marbled backgrounds using ink. For this project I started by putting Carolina, Bluebird and Sapphire ink on my 5x6 Acrylic Block, and then spritzing with water. Of course, you can use any size block to correspond with your project. 

I then place it over the area I want inked- for this project I cut a tag from the Tags and Tabs Thin Cuts  using Watercolour Cardstock, and I had stamped the image of a shark from the Jawsome Birthday stamp set.

I did a few of these tags- I love how every one is different as I redo the ink every time. 

I then cut a fun envelope for my tags using Bluebird Cardstock, my Cricut and the Artfully Sent cartridge.

Another one of my favorite techniques is a shimmer brush splatter! I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set in Sapphire ink, and then flicked the Sapphire Shimmer Brush over it.

Here's the finished tag and envelope sleeve- these are being used as little notes for cast members as I have written little notes on the back for our opening night of West Side Story- we are the Sharks!

Ready to go- such a fun and easy way to make a marbled background for any project and the shimmer brush splatter is fun as well!

Thanks for stopping by!  Please continue onto Tamara's Blog where you will find her sharing her favourite technique.  Be sure to leave a comment and happy hopping!

Striped Borders Blog Hop

Welcome to our Technique Blog Hop!  This month there are 10 of us highlighting Striped Borders.  

This blog hop is a great big circle so you can start wherever you want and continue through to see all the fabulous artwork incorporating this technique.  

If you are coming from Darlys' Blog, you are on the right track!  

Today I wanted to show you a fun background technique using the Happiness Lives Here cardmaking stamp set. I simply inked it up using Black ink and stamped each border on a diagonal across some White Daisy cardstock.

To make this card fun, I added very slim strips of different coloured cardstock behind the stamped piece, and then cut the Thank you sentiment form the Thin Cuts using a piece of Watercolour Paper that I had coloured using different watercolour paints. I then stamped the Thank you sentiment using Intense Black Ink over the coloured area.

I also added some Black Shimmer Brush splatters onto the card base for an extra touch, and placed the thank you sentiment onto the stamped background using 3D Foam Tape. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Please continue onto Alyson's Blog where you will find some additional artwork highlighting this technique!  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of my variation and happy hopping!

Wonderful Waterbrushes!

One of my favourite craft tools to use is my Waterbrush!

I love to have more control over my colouring by using the CTMH Watercolour Pencils, but as you can see in this image, the pencil colouring is quite harsh with not a lot of blending.



As you can see here, as soon as we add water to the pencils it begins to soften and blend. the easiest way to do this is with a waterbrush!



Here us my waterbrushed floral accent on a card using the new Mix In Papers. It gives such a soft, smooth look and the waterbrushes come in different tips so you can have a lot of control or use it for backgrounds.



What is your favourite crafting tool? Share with us over at Heart 2 Heart challenges!

S2006 Garden Tags Australasian SOTM Blog Hop

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

If you have arrived here from Doris 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 June Stamp of the Month, Garden Tags.

I had seen a lovely lady by the name of Mary do a Match Box card, so it inspired me to create one myself! I used a 4.25 x 12 inch strip of cardstock and scored the bottom at 1 inch to create a flap that the card base could be tucked into.



I clear embossed the tag and then used my water brush and Clover, Lemon and Tangerine inks to paint over it. I added a brad to the centre of the tag and fussy cut it then popped it up on some Thin 3D Foam Tape.



The main paper background is from the Mix In Paper Packet, and I added a strip of Stitched Together floral paper down the bottom as well as some white dots.

The sentiment is from the You Make Me Happy stamp set- it was just the right size to be layered on without taking away from the tag.

A full process video of this card can be found here if you'd like to watch the full version of me making this card live!

This exclusive stamp set is only available during June. 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, Maz.

After the rain comes the Rainbow

It's time for another challenge over at Heart 2 Heart- and this week we want to see your rainbow themed projects!

On off the often forgotten things in our stamp range is the single M stamps- this sweet rainbow stamp is such a bargain at only $8NZ! I used it to create a bright and cheery card for a close friend who has been having a rough time recently. The papers from Stitched Together reminded me of rain and then a rainbow and so I used them for my card base, and made the rainbow stamp the focal point of this card. 

After stamping in Intense Black ink, I coloured the image with the watercolour pencils and then  added some Clear Shimmer Brush over the sun. I popped it up on some Mint cardstock with 3D Foam Tape and finished with red gem embellishments.

We would love to see your rainbow themed products at Heart 2 Heart!

S2004 O-fish-ally Awesome CTMH Australasian Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

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

If you have arrived here from Shaunna 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 April Stamp of the Month, O-fish-ally Awesome. Isn't it just adorable!

I knew I wanted to play with the tank, so I cut out a circle in my card using the circle thin cuts and then progressed from there with lots of fussy cutting!



I stamped the waves, castle, crab and fish all from the SOTM, and layered them onto my cut out tank to create a fishbowl.

I added some of the Seas The Day patterned paper to the front and inside of the card just to giver it a bit more colour, and that way I can still write a message down the bottom of the inside of the card.

I then slightly bent the sentiment to fit along the bottom of the fish tank- I love that we can do this with our stamps!

This exclusive stamp set is only available during April. 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, Doreen.

Worldwide December SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring December's SOTM, which is Thoughtful Flowers, a set of 14 stamps.

If you have come here from Alyson'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 30 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM 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!

These flowers inspired me to make a soft watercolour card.

I started off  by clear embossing some of the floral images onto a piece of watercolour paper.



I then started applying my watercolour paints to the embossed images- letting the paint wander around the paper and not being too fussy about keeping within the lines as that is the beauty of watercolour!



I kept colouring until all of my flowers were done, then let them dry.



I wasn't happy with the stark white background, so I then brushed a light yellow watercolour wash over the entire card, taking care with the edges where the flowers were. I then stamped one of the sentiments from the December SOTM onto the card using Archival Black ink.



I love watercolouring this way, as the paints create beautiful mottled colours and splotches as they dry, allowing for variations in colour without too much effort. In the close up of the flowers you can see the different saturation levels from each colour. You can go over certain points again with the same colour to make the difference even more obvious, but I just love the soft look of this technique.



Now hop on over to Brenda's 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! Remember, the December SOTM is only available until 31st December!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

For the Love of Stamping!

Hello and welcome to our CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop. This week our featured product is stamp sets.

If you have just joined us you can start here and continue on, as this is a circular hop or if you get lost along the way you can find the complete list at the end of this post.   If you came here from Annette you are in the right place. Now on to my project:

I love the Shower Flowers stamp set for a solid floral image, perfect for this technique!

I started off by painting a piece of the Watercolour Paper in the Jeepers Creepers featured colours- Pansy, Willow, Raspberry, Tangerine, Lemon and Lagoon. In order to get a good match with the specified colours, I used the watercolour guide (available from your consultant).



I then stamped some flowers from Shower Flowers onto the dry piece of paper with Versamark ink, and heat set using clear embossing powder.



I then swiped the paper with clean water, removing any excess with a paper towel. This allows the colours to come through strongly where the embossing is, and leaves a lovely watercolour background for the rest of the panel.



Here is the finished card with a sentiment added stamped in black ink and matted on Lagoon cardstock. I also added some light grey sequins.



You can see how the shiny colours show through using this technique, and the possibilities are endless as you can use any solid stamp and any colour combination!

Thank you for checking out my project. If you would like to purchase our featured product of the week or any additional supplies you can buy them here. If you enjoyed my project please comment below as we love feedback! Next on our blog hop is Corinna from Corinna's Crafts. Make sure to check out her amazing work featuring this same product.

See you on Wednesday 19th October as we will be featuring the Swan Lake Paper Packet! Have a great day!

Complete list of blogs participating:

1. Annette Clark  

2. Lauren Moore 

3. Corinna Murphy

4. Donna Digby 

Linking up with BTF and Color Dare. 

Stamping for NSM

Did you know that September is National Stamping Month? What better time to pull out some of my stamps to create a background for a card.

I started by stamping some images onto watercolour paper using my Archival Black ink.



Once they had dried, I started to colour them in using my Watercolour Paints.



I also coloured in the background for a more sepia, vintage look.



And here is the finished card complete with sentiment!



This card is part of my Design Team link up at H2H challenges for National Stamping Month, and I am also entering this card in the Color Throwdown and Curtain Call challenges.

Thank You Watercolour Card

I have been super busy crafting with all my new goodies, but I thought I wold pop in and show you a simple watercolour card I created as part of my upcoming Watercolour Wonder class in September. (I know, I like to plan ahead!)

I thought this would be a great chance to play along with the CASology cue card this week.

To create this card, I simply painted a green wash on some watercolour paper and let it dry. I then stamped two hearts and a sentiment from the Happy Heart stamp set in Archival Black ink.



Simple but effective in my opinion!

You're a fine-apple!

The challenge cosmos aligned perfectly this week, with three of my favourite challenge blogs inspiring me to make a tropical card.

Just Add Ink wanted a card with stripes, Curtain Call was a Tasty Tropcis theme, and the Color Throwdown even had a pineapple on it too!

I started off by painting some watercoloured stripes, and adding some paint splatter. The base of the card was also a striped Kraft cardstock.

I still can't find my fruit themed stamp set, so I improvised with a Cricut cut pineapple from Canary, Kraft and Fern cardstock, and I wrote the saying using my Cricut and the pen attachment.



Here you can see the sentiment close up- I am a sucker for a pun and the Sour Apple pen was a great match to the Fern twine and cardstock.



This may be my favourite card of the year so far! The idea came together out of nowhere- usually I have to be inspired by a sketch or someone else, but this card only used the prompts listed above. Now I just have to find someone awesome to give it to!