Our collection of gnomes is officially welcoming in Spring! See what these endearing little creatures are up to, as the weather warms up and the earth begins to blossom, in the beautiful Gnomes for Spring product collection.
Gnomes for All Seasons joined the Close To My Heart ranks in a seasonally released series of paper products, with the first installment in August of last year. Just a few weeks before the beginning of every new season (autumn, winter, spring, and summer), a new part of the Gnome for All Seasons collection that correlates with the upcoming seasonal period is released, readily available and at your crafting disposal! With spring just a few short weeks away, we are delivering on this promise once more!
Just like it’s autumn- and winter-themed counterparts, the spring-themed patterned papers and sticker sheet are mainly that, seasonally themed. When you look closely at our designs, you’ll see that the gnomes are only found on one side of the six paper design options and in just two of the stickers on the coordinating 12″ x 12″ sticker sheet. You don’t have to love gnomes to enjoy these gorgeous spring products in your scrapbooking and cardmaking projects!
The available cardmaking and scrapbooking workshops also have a few gnomes sprinkled throughout their designs. If gnomes are not your thing, and you’d rather not have them on your pages or cards, the solution is quite simple! All you have to do is flip the gnome themed paper over to the springtime side, without any gnomes, and use that to complete the artwork instead. No one would be the wiser because these paper designs are made to allow for this smooth modification!
The Gnomes for Spring collection is one of our favorites (don’t tell the other kids!). With the beautiful color combinations, motifs, and designs, we hope that you’ll enjoy crafting with it just as much! Make sure to check back in late spring, a few weeks before the start of summer, to see what our gnome friends are up to, then!
No matter what time of year you dive into the creative process, there are always plenty of memories to be captured, friendships to be celebrated, and art to be crafted. Embracing your creative side year-round can be quick and easy when you’re working with seasonal papers and stickers. Today, we’re going to give you a peek into the crafting potential offered by our Workshop Wow: Four Seasons workshop kits and showing off just how easy it is to create stunning artwork on theme!
All the pages and cards on display today were designed using the Four Seasons paper collections in our 2022–2023 Core Products catalog. (To view these collections and all the other amazing products available in this catalog, click here!) Now, let’s get started!
First up is our springtime cardmaking workshop, bursting with floral features and bright colors. These cards favor a variety of sentiments, from birthday wishes, to greetings, to “just because” options. One standout feature of these cards is the use of White Acrylic Hearts across all of the card designs. While the cards also share a commonality in paper patterns and sticker usage, the inclusion of the White Acrylic Hearts as a common element across all our springtime cards serves as a simple but effective way to tie them all together, working to further preserve a cohesive theme.
For additional cohesion, these cards all pull their sentiments and stamped accents from the Seasonal Haul Stamp + Thin Cuts set and the My Acrylix® Spring Greetings stamp set. These elements, while allowing for differences from card to card, also serve to uphold the springy feel throughout the entire assortment!
This springtime theme continues with our Four Seasons—Spring scrapbooking workshop. This workshop kit includes a garden of floral patterns across the seven pages available through this kit design. Fun fact: All of our Four Seasons scrapbooking workshop kits follow a similar design pattern, making it easy to create each page from each seasonal theme! Even with the design similarities, though, the papers, stickers, and color palette used in each seasonal page set the individual pieces apart. One standout element of the spring pages is the use of Woodgrain Die-cut Flowers. Additional floral elements were added to these pages from the Smell the Flowers Stamp + Thin Cuts set.
These stamps and Thin Cuts dies are particularly prevalent in this 12” x 12” “Love You” single page. Flowers and leaves from this set were both stamped directly on the base page and stamped on die-cuts and attached to the base page with 3-D Foam Tape, leaving a gorgeous multi-dimensional effect!
Moving on through the year, we get to our sunny summer layouts and cards! The gorgeous pieces in our summer selection feature a more vibrant color palette, making the scrapbook pages stand out in any album, and giving the cards an unforgettable foundation!
Our 12” x 12” “Go with the Flow” layout offers a great example of how these dies can be used to create custom embellishment clusters, perfectly tailored to the Four Seasons—Summer paper patterns and stickers!
The trick to making these embellishment clusters blend in so seamlessly with the paper and sticker designs is stamping them in complementary ink colors.
As with the scrapbook pages, each seasonal set of cards is designed following a similar pattern. Similarities can be seen from season to season, but each set has its own unique flair. Our summer cards sport the same bright hues as the scrapbooking pages, and are embellished with a handful of White Acrylic Flowers.
One theme that is seen throughout all of our Four Seasons cards is the usage of the truck die-cut from the Seasonal Haul Stamp + Thin Cuts. To get twice the cardmaking power, the Four Seasons—Summer cardmaking workshop kit includes two design options, both featuring the truck die-cut.
The summer truck cards have a relatively simple design, but are the perfect addition to the set, with truck beds full of acrylic flowers and an uplifting sentiment sticker! No matter which version of this card you choose to make, it’s sure to be a delight for any friend or family member you give it to!
Another great two-for-one card design can be found in the “Live a Little” and “Go With the Flow” cards. This dual design principle can be seen in various forms throughout the Four Seasons cards, and is a great way to create multiple cards quickly.
Next up are our selection of Autumnal cards and scrapbook pages. These leafy layouts and crisp cards are perfect for all kinds of festive occasions and the preservation of all kinds of memories. One of our favorite layouts from this set is the 12” x 12” “Crisp Air, Warm Hearts” layout, which includes a fun, striped panel section along the bottom of the pages. This layout really puts the power of the Four Seasons—Autumn paper on display, along with a handful of stickers.
The paper patterns can also be seen in the array of dovetailed pennants and paper layers in the upper half of the left page. By relying on the usage of patterned paper for the majority of these pages’ decoration, it makes the creative process quicker and easier to follow! With that being said, though, this page also benefits from the inclusion of Autumn Air Stamp + Thin Cuts set, as its stamps and dies have come together throughout the page to create embellishment clusters around the title pieces and photos.
Another beautiful piece that stands out in this collection is the 12” x 12” “Autumn Leaves & Pumpkins Please” layout! This photo-packed layout includes many of the elements seen in the “Crisp Air, Warm Hearts” layout, but this example embraces a more simple, white background toward the center, giving it a classic design. By going this route, we are left with optimal focus on the photos while at the same time, elegantly preserving the autumnal theme!
Last but not least are our winter cards and scrapbook pages, and each piece is packed with frosty wintery goodness! One of our absolute favorites in this selection is the “Thinking of You This Season” card. This card makes beautiful use of the Four Seasons—Winter woodgrain paper option for a secondary base, and a total of six other patterns that have been cut into strips of varying width and arranged side by side to form a stunning background.
To finish it off, we trimmed two pieces of paper—Scarlet and Mink, respectively—dovetailed and layered them, and stamped our festive sentiment and a handful of snowflakes in Pine ink. This, along with the aforementioned patterned paper strips, and a small constellation of White Acrylic Stars, make this card a real holiday treasure!
The final piece we’ll be looking at today is our “Winter Wishes” card, which shows off a simple but effective fold-over technique. A great feature of Close To My Heart patterned paper packs is that each page is double-sided, giving you twice the crafting capability with a single page. In this card, the base has been built out with a piece of Espresso cardstock, a white woodgrain piece on top of that, and a wintery foliage piece for the top layer. However, instead of leaving the top layer piece as-is, the top right corner has been folded down to reveal the woodgrain piece beneath it. This also shows off the plaid pattern on the back of the foliage piece, allowing both the patterns on this double-sided paper to work together at once!
This beautiful card is perfect for friends, neighbors, and family members alike, and is a delight to receive, and to make!
We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s brief look at what’s in store with the Workshop Wow: Four Seasons special! We’ve only showed off a small portion of what’s available through these incredible seasonal workshop kits, and we can’t wait to hear about all the amazing things you’ll do with your Four Seasons artwork! What memories will you capture with the scrapbooking kits? Who’s on your card-giving list this year? Let us know in the comments below!
Whether you’re playing in snow or sand, the 2022 holiday season is set to be merry and bright! It’s always a crafting party here at Close To My Heart, and we’ve got some major fun in store for this Christmas season! For us, Christmas means a big new selection of stamps, patterned papers, and embellishments to aid us in our cardmaking and memory keeping endeavors. We’ve got an incredible paper collection to introduce you to today, and we can’t wait to show it off!
We are extremely blessed to have our crafting community extend throughout the US, into Canada, across the Pacific to Japan, and down under to Australia and New Zealand. As such, the season for Christmas celebrations varies greatly depending on where you live—some celebrate in the winter time, with snow and cold weather, while others celebrate in the height of summer, with sunshine, high temperatures, and beautiful beach weather!The Seas & Greetings paper collection is an ideal solution for Christmas crafting from either end of that spectrum, as well as any place in between! Without any further ado, let’s get into all the amazing creative options that await with Seas & Greetings!
As you can see in the short video above, this amazing collection is an incredible example of the versatility that can be achieved with paper design. We not only have some first-rate artists here at CTMH, but we’ve got some of the best graphic designers around, too, and their skill is on full display with the Seas & Greetings paper collection! Because this suite is designed for holiday celebrations in both a beachside setting or a colder winter climate, each piece of paper sports a beach theme on one side, and a snowy winter theme on the other!
While all Close To My Heart paper packets feature double-sided designs, this collection is unique, as it essentially incorporates two themes into a single paper packet and enables crafters to pursue multiple ideas within a single suite. All the patterns you see in this collection have been purposefully designed to coordinate with both themes and the included sticker sheet.
Additionally, this paper packet includes 12 sheets instead of the usual 6, giving creators double the papers to work and craft with! Whether you’re commemorating a beautiful beachside holiday or capturing fun memories from a snow day, the Seas & Greetings Paper Packet & Sticker Sheet is an ideal starting point as you bring your crafting vision into reality!
Accompanying the paper packet in the Seas & Greetings collection are a selection of stamp and Thin Cuts metal dies, available in both the Beach and Winter themes. These stamps and dies pair beautifully with the patterns, icons, and sentiments featured on the papers and stickers, making this a winning combination for any crafting project!
Another essential included in the Seas & Greetings suite is the Seas & Greetings Coordinating Cardstock pack. This variety of colored cardstock has been selected to coordinate with the colors prominently featured in the paper packet and stickers, making it incredibly easy to create polished, balanced cards and scrapbook layouts!
Crafters can also look forward to top-notch embellishment potential with the Seas & Greetings Beach and Winter Embellishments! These embellishments include a variety of blue and white acrylic pieces, all finished with a frosty sheen for subtle shine.
As with the stamp and Thin Cuts options, the Seas & Greetings embellishments include shapes suitable for both the tropical beach theme and the chilly winter theme, making them perfect for inclusion in all your Seas & Greetings crafts! With so many fun products available through the Seas & Greetings collection, it’s a cinch to preserve your fondest holiday memories and stories!
The Seas & Greetings special has much in store for crafters of all types and experience levels, but we’ve got even more creative options for members of our VIP Customer program! Seas & Greetings includes three exclusive workshop kits—two for scrapbooking and one for cardmaking—just for members of this amazing program! (For those of you who may not be familiar with the perks available through the Close To My Heart VIP Customer program, either visit our website for more information, or reach out to your Maker for additional details!)
We guarantee you won’t want to miss out on the unique Seas & Greetings workshops available to our VIP Customers, and we can’t wait to show you what’s in store with these exclusive kits!
To start off this VIP crafting experience, we’ll get into all the ins and outs of two scrapbooking workshops—one created with the beach-inspired papers, and the other with the winter ones! These two workshops are identical in design, but vary in the colors used, and, of course, in the patterns featured.
As you can see, these scrapbook pages incorporate a wide variety of fun techniques and elements to set them apart, including two-tone rock n’ roll stamping, inking paper edges to add a subtle touch of color, cardstock ripping and distressing, strategic pigment splatters, and the inclusion of acrylic shapes!
These beautiful pages are a gorgeous way to preserve your favorite holiday memories, and with identical designs for both the winter and beach themes, it’s an ideal memory-keeping solution for crafters the world over!
Along with the scrapbook kits, the Seas & Greetings paper collection brings life to a selection of adorable holiday cards, perfect for all the special people in your life! With six card designs featured, the Seas & Greetings VIP Cardmaking kit allows crafters to create an array of personal, beachy cards for family and friends with ease!
Each of these cards was constructed using the Beach patterned papers from the Seas & Greetings paper collection, and stamps and Thin Cuts from our Seas & Greetings—Beach set! This card kit also keeps things interesting with card size and orientation, as it includes options for both standard-size and slimline cards, and a mix of horizontal and vertical designs.
We’ve loved going with you on this dive into the rich wealth of possibilities available through our Seas & Greetings collection! This playful and versatile collection is a wonderful way to commemorate your fondest Christmas memories, regardless of where they were made! From memory keeping to cardmaking and more, Seas & Greetings is sure to be a favorite you’ll turn to for all sorts of projects. With so much extra fun offered in our Seas & Greetings VIP Customer Program offer, be sure to talk to your Maker and learn how you can get the VIP treatment, too! We can’t wait to welcome you to the club!
What’s on your crafting agenda with Seas & Greetings? Leave a comment below to let us know what stories you’ll tell with this amazing collection, and whether you’ll be hitting the beach or braving the winter during your holiday celebrations this year!
You can never have too much “autumn” in your life, and at CTMH, we can definitely help with that! To fully immerse ourselves in the spirit of the autumn season, we’ll be showing off our fantastic Four Seasons—Autumn paper suite today, along with a few stamp sets from the 2022–2023 Core Products Catalog! With so much seasonal fun in store, we can’t wait to dive into this beautiful selection of patterned papers and stickers. We’ve got an awesome selection of art pieces to show you today to demonstrate all the amazing aspects of this collection, so without further ado, let’s take a look!
To start us off, we’re going to take a peek at a few first-rate cards, all of which were made with the Four Seasons—Autumn paper collection, and a few seasonal stamp sets from our 2022–2023 Core Products catalog. (Click here to view all the beautiful paper collections, stamps, and other exciting products included in this catalog!)
For our first card, we used a fun truck from the Seasonal Haul Stamp + Thin Cuts set. Along with the truck, this set also includes several adorable images to use to fill the bed of the truck. For our “Autumn Blessings” truck card, we chose a pile of pumpkins for the cargo, while also adding a fun “Happy Day!” sign in the front window. To add a splash of delicate color to our truck, its load of gourds, and the “Happy Day!” sign, we’ve used a light touch with our Watercolor Pencils. To preserve a more rustic feel, we chose not to use a waterbrush to activate the watercolor effect, leaving the slightly coarser penciled effect instead.
On the layer behind the truck, we’ve used patterned papers from the Four Seasons—Autumn paper packet to create a festive background and base for our card; in addition, we’ve also utilized a piece of White Daisy cardstock and added some subtle detailing by adding a dashed line with a Sepia LePen™. Once your card background has been established, we created some additional detail elements with a simple leaf stamp from the Seasonal Haul Stamp + Thin Cuts set, decorated with a bit of Copper Stickles™ Glitter Glue, plus a few pieces from the Orange & Yellow Dots collection.
To finish everything off, we’ve created our title piece with the Thankful Autumn stamp set. The sentiment was stamped on a dovetailed piece of White Daisy cardstock with Black and Toffee Exclusive Inks™ stamp pads. Using two different colors of ink made it possible for us to layer the “blessings” image over the top of “Autumn,” for a unique, layered look. As a final touch, we gently sponged the edges of our dovetailed title piece with Toffee ink to increase dimension. We love our Autumn Blessings card, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg as we continue to delve into the creative possibilities available through the Four Seasons—Autumn paper packet!
Our next two cards really get into the autumnal spirit with their very own vibrant leaf piles! Both cards were constructed using our Autumn Air Stamp + Thin Cuts, and the My Acrylix® Thankful Autumn and Seasonal Haul stamp sets. Using this stellar combination, we were able to coordinate seamlessly with the Four Seasons—Autumn paper packet to create a gorgeous patchwork of patterns to form our background, clustered leaf accent in the mid-ground, and a polished title on top of our leaf pile cluster!
The leaves on these cards showcase a combination of two techniques—basic solid stamping, and rock n’ roll stamping for subtle color change within a single stamped image. This pairing allows for a nice variation between the leaves while using a relatively small number of stamps!
Moving right along, our next piece on display today is a 6” x 6” mini scrapbook page! We absolutely love this smaller memory keeping piece, and its size lends itself particularly well to the Four Seasons—Autumn paper packet and the Autumn Air Stamp + Thin Cuts set, both of which were used to create this striking mini page. For our base page, we trimmed a 6” x 6” section from a dark wood grain patterned paper. On top of that, we layered a handful of other patterned paper and coordinating cardstock pieces from the Four Seasons—Autumn collection to further build this page.
From there, we used a variety of leaves from our Autumn Air Stamp + Thin Cuts set and the Thankful Autumn stamp set to create some slight layering around the corners and bottom edge of our photo. Tucking the leaves beneath layers is a beautiful way to embellish the page with our very own leaf pile clusters without becoming too busy or cluttered.
This same layered leaf pile effect can also be seen at the bottom edge of our next piece, a 12” x 12” “Autumn Blessings” single page! This page started out with leaf patterned paper as the base, with a piece of dark wood-grain paper on top of that. We then used a few smaller pieces of patterned paper to frame the central photo. Calling back to an earlier favorite, we kicked things into gear with another fantastic fall truck! With a precious cargo of pumpkins, this classic pickup provides a colorful focal point, its rustic color coming from a light hand with our Watercolor Pencils. This truck also boasts a wood guard rail that is another fun way to customize your stamped truck accents.
Beneath our pickup harvest truck, we’ve finished things off with the leaf pile, made up of a handful of pieces from our Autumn Air Stamp + Thin Cuts. This pile forms a great embellishment cluster for our title at the bottom edge of the page. The stamped leaves fit right in with the leaf pattern on the base page, with the end result being a lush layer of leafy goodness!
Our final piece is a 2-page 12” x 12” “Autumn” layout. A standout feature of this layout is the artistically torn section of Four Seasons—Autumn papers, sweeping from the top left corner across the upper edge of the page. This element serves to draw the eye across the page, making sure that the photos, title, and journaling sections are at the forefront of the viewer’s attention. Further visual interest is generated by sponged sections behind the photo sections on both pages. This pop of color near the photo mats allows for additional emphasis to be placed on the photo in a relatively simple fashion, without overwhelming the design. For some extra fun, we’ve also added just a spritz of Gilt Gloss Spray over the sponged ink, adding a bit of shine!
These sponged accents were created using Vintage Photo and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide™ inks for a vibrant and seamlessly blended effect. Along with these sponged sections, we used a handful of stickers from the Four Seasons—Autumn Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, and a few stamps from the Autumn Air Stamp + Thin Cuts set to further spice up the aesthetic of these pages. One amazing thing about the leaves in this stamp set is that they look fabulous whether they’re used with the accompanying Thin Cuts dies, or stamped directly on your base page!
To keep the party going, we utilized many of the fun patterns available through the Four Seasons—Autumn paper packet to create a layered effect that further serves to break up the stark background of our White Daisy cardstock base.
A final feature of this Autumn layout is the title section, created with the Thankful Autumn stamp set, with the letters carefully trimmed from the cardstock it was stamped on. This title utilizes an ombre blend of Distress Oxide™ and Exclusive Inks™ for a beautiful gradient color effect. By gently sponging Paprika ink at the base of the stamp, and gradually layering Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide™ ink up the length of the stamp, it’s quick and easy to achieve this polished look! As you can see, there’s a wealth of creative opportunities available when you craft with the Four Seasons—Autumn paper collection and the autumn-inspired stamps featured in our 2022–2023 Core Products Catalog! To see even more of this creative power in action, check out this video, featuring the artwork we’ve showcased in this post!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief look into what can be accomplished with our autumn-inspired papers and stamps, and we can’t wait to hear what you plan to create with them! Leave a comment below to tell us about your autumnal crafting vision for 2022 and beyond!
It’s finally September and the highly anticipated transition of summer to autumn is under way! The splendor of nature’s colorful schemes, paired with the promise of cooler weather, inspires us to celebrate this new season and gets us in the craftiest mood!
(For those of our friends who live in a part of the world about to enter spring rather than autumn, the following information is for you, too! Let’s have an honest moment… most of us who scrapbook are not up to date in scrapbooking our memories. Whether you’re looking to future or past moments, there is a lot to be found here in the way of inspiration and technique, regardless of your geographic location! 😉)
One thing we really enjoy being able to say is that something is a lot easier to make than it looks. That is absolutely true about this 12″ x 12″ Fall scrapbook page! For starters, the intricate patchwork base seen here is a 12″ x 12″ paper designed with this quilt-like pattern. No cutting was required! This quilt inspired paper was turned into a frame by simply layering and centering an 8½” square cut from the Paprika plaid patterned paper found in the same paper packet. The center White Daisy cardstock square is 8″. White is not only a neutral color but, in this case, it is also one of the collection’s featured colors.
Finding a list of our collections’ featured colors is quite simple. In our catalogs, it is listed at the bottom of a collection’s opening page.
The Crisp Air collection’s featured colors are:
If you don’t have access to the catalog but have a paper packet handy, you can find the featured colors listed on the back side of the zip strip (the extra ½” accent paper along the top of each patterned paper).
Looks like this:
Check these featured colors lists if you’re ever unsure of what color inks, cardstocks, or embellishments to use when you’re creating with any of our papers. Our products are designed to match, so all of the current exclusive Close To My Heart colors are available in inks, cardstock, and a variety of embellishments for seamless coordination.The ink colors that were used for the stamped elements on the Fall page we’ve been talking about are the featured colors Papaya, Peach, Pine, Sapphire, and Sundance.
These photo mats were created by stamping one of the larger flowers on White Daisy cardstock with Sundance ink. (It’s so easy to create your very own coordinating patterned papers when you know exactly what colors to use!)
With the exception of three stickers, all of the flowers and leaves on this page were stamped and die cut using the Crisp Air—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts. We even added some extra detail to the leaf stems by outlining their shape and drawing the leaves’ veins by hand using a black journaling pen.
The title banner was also stamped and die-cut! For our friends who prefer the word “autumn” over “fall,” we keep you in mind as we design our product. The Crisp Air—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts is available in two versions, one with the option to stamp “AUTUMN” as the banner instead. 😃
In this next layout, you can see how the trendy distressed texture that is often found in autumnal designs inspired our art.
Here, we’ve ripped some of our papers, exposing their white cores and edge distressed the photo mats.
We approached the “distressed” look of our photo mats in two ways. The bottom pattern paper layers are all distressed with a pair of scissors. This is when you run the blade of our scissors (very carefully!) along the edge of the paper to alter the original texture of the paper’s edge, creating a more rugged quality. The light Peach cardstock layer was sponged along the edges with Peach ink. The technique here is to cut a wedge from a round sponge, gently rub the rounded edge on the ink pad, and then rub it along the edges of the cardstock until the desired effect is achieved.
As we know, one of the most beautiful things to witness during the fall season is the changing of colors in the foliage. This is something that happens gradually, and often results in leaves and flowers of multiple colors. Fall is the perfect season to implement the second-generation and rock-and-roll stamping techniques!
The second-generation stamping technique is when you stamp an image twice, the second image being what you will use on your project. (The first image you can stamp on a piece of scratch paper, or use it elsewhere on a project.) For the rock-and-roll stamping technique you would ink your stamp in one color, then roll the edges in another color. In this layout, we combined the two techniques to create the stamped flowers you see here!
We inked our flower stamps in Paprika, then stamped them on a scratch piece of paper, and then rolled the edges of the mounted flower stamps back in the Paprika ink pad! All three flowers shown here are stamped with Paprika, but the difference in the color cardstock (Peach and Sundance, both featured colors) gives them an additional pop of color that resembles something that can be spotted in nature during this colorful time!
If you look closely, you can also see that we even cut some leaves straight out of patterned paper without stamping the coordinating stamp images on them. When you are inspired by nature, it’s fun to use that inspiration to create things that you wish existed, too!
Here not only can you see how we’ve paired colors together, but also that we can take what is given to us and think outside of the box! A stamp set or die that is labeled “cardmaking” or “scrapbooking” may have been designed with a specific purpose in mind, but don’t let that stop you from using them in a different and creative way!
The gorgeous color combinations nature gifts us on a regular basis are simply breathtaking! We encourage everyone to take this beautiful world in, to always keep your eyes and minds open, allowing all of its moments and themes—people, colors, shapes, textures, and everything in between—to inspire new art and ideas. We can only capture the world around us in an effective way when we are really experiencing it. 🍂
When you want to communicate feelings of love, gratitude, excitement, joy, or sympathy, you can never go wrong with a beautiful card. Today, we’ll be focusing on techniques we used to create the gorgeous cards that grace the cover of our July–September catalog.
These autumnal-themed cards feature a refreshing combination of patterned papers, stamps, Thin Cuts, and stickers from our Crisp Air collection and represent a wonderful example of how a beautiful art piece can be easier to create than it may appear on the surface. To begin, let’s discuss the initial steps we took when creating these cards.
Every card starts with a card base and a base design layer. For these cards, we selected various options from the Crisp Air paper packet to provide a starting point for our designs. With so many beautiful colors and patterns to coordinate with, this assortment of vibrant papers offers bases that accommodate multiple design directions.
Another common element across the board is the addition of a message or opening sentiment. Our cards on display today include a variety of sentiments, with some being achieved with stamped images, one with a sticker addition, and even one embossed die-cut title accent! Each of these options for adding a card sentiment comes with its own advantages—for example, using a stamp allows you to tailor the image to your liking through the use of different stamping techniques and colors.
Incorporating a sticker into the sentiment, like we see with the “Beautiful Change” card above, is a quicker and easier way to add some polished flair to your card.
While the stamped and sticker titles are fairly straightforward, the embossed die-cut title takes a more technical approach. To create this title, we used a die from our Gratitude Thin Cuts set to create two “thankful” die-cuts and glued them together for extra dimension. After gluing, we pressed our die-cut into a VersaMark™ ink pad, placed it flat on a piece of scratch paper, coated it with Princess Gold embossing powder, and gently picked it up with tweezers to shake off the excess powder.
Once the excess embossing powder was removed, we used a Heat Tool to heat-set the remaining powder while still holding the die-cut with the tweezers. This technique offers a more 3-dimensional result with an eye-catching metallic finish, making it a beautiful accent for this already gorgeous card!
After selecting your color palette, papers, and sentiment, a great way to complete your card is to select a few accents to finish off your design. For our cards today, we’ve turned primarily to our selection of Crisp Air stickers and stamps, a handful of Thin Cuts, some ribbon, and a few coordinating cardstock colors to help tie all the design elements together and make each one unique.
One of our favorite accents for these cards is the light orange ribbon used on the “Celebrate” card, pictured above. To achieve this shade, we used an orange TriBlend™ marker to color a length of white ribbon using long, steady strokes to achieve uniform color distribution. Once the ink dried on the ribbon, we cut dovetailed the ends, tied a loose knot, and attached it to the card to finish off the tag behind the title piece.
Another standout feature of these Crisp Air cards is the use of embellishment clusters. To create these embellishment clusters, we combined several individual elements into a cohesive grouping and attached it to the card as a larger accent. One of our favorite ways to do this is to gather multiple stamped die-cuts, created with a Stamp + Thin Cuts set. By using stamps and dies from the Crisp Air—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts set, we were able to create this vibrant embellishment cluster that matched the paper designs perfectly!
Looking for a quicker option? Like the title piece discussed in the “Beautiful Change” card above, using stickers to create embellishment clusters like the one on this “Love You” card can be done in just a couple of minutes!
To create the background behind the darker outline of our pumpkin, we traced the overlay and hand trimmed a plain background to create a stable base. We then used our Thin Cuts die to cut the shape again on a piece of Nectarine cardstock, spongedPaprika ink around the edges, and carefully inlaid the pumpkin overlay with the sponged orange pieces, resulting in a dimensional accent piece!
Once you’ve found an accent method that works for your card, you may want to add a few smaller touches to finish it all off. For this selection of cards, we’ve used Crisp Air dots, glitter gems, dabs of glitter glue, gold embellishing thread, and even a couple of detail stamps like the splatter stamp from our Crisp Air—Scrapbooking stamp set. A few well-placed features like these are the perfect finishing touches as you complete your own unique cards.
No matter what your card communicates, it can be easy to create a meaningful piece of personal artwork with just a few simple techniques and a handful of coordinating products like those in our Crisp Air collection. Remember, card creation doesn’t have to be complicated to be meaningful—when you craft from the heart, you can’t go wrong! What do you dream of creating with the Crisp Air suite? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Happy 2021 and National Papercrafting Month! At the start of this new year, many of us find ourselves with a burst of creative energy and are looking for ways to make some positive changes in our lives and homes. For an easy way to fulfill this need, celebrate all month long with us and our Home Sweet Home special!
Our Home Sweet Home special features a frame kit that comes with everything you need to make a gorgeous 13¾” x 13¾” framed “HOME” with a wide variety of interchangeable accents for year-round celebration!
The seasonal accents fit perfectly over the “O” in “HOME” and are made using the punch-out die-cuts included in the frame kit. Many of the accents have multiple layers for a beautiful, three-dimensional look, and each one features bright, vibrant colors to really make them stand out.
Altogether, this kit includes 27 different accent options! The Home Sweet Home frame kit comes with 14 wood circles, but each component of the kit is also available individually, including additional circles and magnets if you’d like to make all 27!
As you can see, there are accent options for every season to keep your frame updated throughout the year!
There are also options for many different holidays, incorporating a touch of festive décor for every occasion!
Is there an athlete in your life? Celebrate game day with a personalized accent just for them!
If you want to add a little more personalization to your Home Sweet Home frame, design your own accents using the wood circles and parts of the provided die-cuts. Whether you want to create an accent for a special holiday, family tradition, or any other accent with personal meaning, it’s easy to do with the various components in the Home Sweet Home frame kit!
Along with the easy punch-out die-cuts for the interchangeable accents, each kit comes with beautiful overlays and backgrounds for the frame itself. These can be easily applied to the wood frame to create a polished, classic look. If you favor the natural wood, however, you can easily add color to the wood itself using a TriBlend™ marker, an Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad or re-inker, or even embossing powder!
There’s so much to love about the Home Sweet Home special, and for five lucky readers this week, there will be even more to love! We are ringing in the new year today by giving away FIVE Home Sweet Home frame kits!
For a chance to win one of these beautiful kits, you must be subscribed to this blog AND leave a comment below letting us know what your creative aspirations are for 2021. All entries must be submitted by 3 p.m. tomorrow, January 6 (MST) (that’s 8 a.m. January 7 AEST for our Aussies). The five lucky winners will be notified via e-mail later this week. (We use the e-mail address you are subscribed with, so make sure it is up to date in order to not miss out!)
We have so many exciting things lined up for 2021! Keep up with all of our projects, designs, products, ideas, and more by continuing to follow us here, as well as on Facebook and Instagram (@cmthofficial).
Now it’s your turn: what creative things are you up to this year? Tell us below!
Just in time for the holiday season, we’ve paired the exclusive products from our Seasons in Motion special with a couple of FREE card patterns to add a little animated spice to our holidays!
In order to achieve the animated effect, layer the stamped images with either an animation sheetor a paper piece you can now cut using the new animation window Thin Cuts die!
Also part of the Seasons in Motion special, which we used to create our example cards, is the Holiday Stack! The Holiday Stack is a pack of 48 6″ x 6″ patterned papers with designs from some of our past favorite 12″ x 12″ patterns.
These are not the original 12″ x 12″ papers cut into quarters, keeping the patterns the same size, but, rather, shrunken down versions of the classic favorites made to fit a 6″ x 6″ square!
Download our two free animated cardmaking patterns, here, and delight your loved ones with animated cards this coming holiday season!
Even though we knew it was coming, as it does every year, spring is sneaking up on us fast! Technically it won’t be spring for another couple weeks, so there’s still time to pull out and sort through all of those brightly colored decorations. (Phew!)
And because spring is all about new beginnings, we have a few fun things in store for you to add to your stash! Just keep reading! 😉
First, we want to show you how to dress up a wreath you may already have with a fun pennant banner made using our Block Alphabet Thin Cuts dies (which are 25% off through the end of the month as part of our Die-namite!sale).
If you look closely, you’ll see that we layered each of our letters with silver foil. Using our Thin Cuts, we cut our sentiment out twice, once out of White Daisy cardstock and then again out of silver foil paper. The silver foil letters were cut in half and then attached to the White Daisy using an adhesive runner. Then, we attached the letters with thin 3-D foam tape onto individual pennants that would later form our banner. To make the pennants, we simply cut 1½” x 3¾” rectangles and dovetailed one of the ends.
Attach the pennants to white twine using a hot glue gun to spell out your words—one word per strand of twine. Make sure to leave enough twine on the ends to tie the banners to the wreath.
You can make a banner like this one for pretty much any occasion just by changing the sentiment. From welcoming a new season, to holidays, or birthdays—the Block Alphabet Thin Cuts give you the tools for spelling out whatever it is you want to celebrate in style!
And since we are talking seasonal décor, we have a special treat for those of you who’ve made it this far: two FREE printables for the upcoming Easter season.
As we celebrate this season of new beginnings, we thank you for reading and sharing this blog. Our hope is that the inspirational artwork ideas and tips we present here help crafters of all types to discover their creativity and to exercise their creative muscles in new, exciting ways. Happy Easter!
