Animal Greetings Thank You Card

I recently posted a couple of cards highlighting a recent stamp set that's a CTMH February special, Share the Love. I loved the fact that $7.00 of the purchase price was donated to Operation Smile which helps children around the world who have disfiguring facial problems requiring surgery.  So I decided to make a few cards using another Operation Smile special stamp available all year, Animal Greetings.

I decided to use a CAS (Clean and Simple) style to keep the lovely small animal from getting lost in patterned paper. I was inspired to use the beautiful colors at Stamping Royalty.  I used the Cricut Artistry cartridge to make the die cuts. I cut the heart border on each color of cardstock, put double-sided tape on the back of the heart openings and inserted different colors into the holes. I did the same with the tips of the sentiment banner. I colored the cute pig with alcohol ink markers. The white background was embossed with the Chevron embossing folder, but the angle of the light only shows one side of the embossed diagonals.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
AAA Cards Game #58 - CAS and sequins
Crafty Catz #312 - CAS
Critters and Creatures February Linky Party - anything goes with a creature
Hiding in my Craft Room #239 - Clean and Simple
Ooh La La Creations #198 - Clean and Simple
Stampin' Royalty #317 - color challenge

 



Clearly Digi Stamps Blog Hop using Christmas Card Sentiments

***Important Announcement***

 

Today will be the last Blog Hop for our Clearly iStamp Blog. As a home schooling mom, Lori McCroskey has decided to close the Clearly Digi Stamps store at the end of this month. I was both happy and sad for her, knowing how hard it can be when life changes affect the direction of our lives. I'm happy that she has been sensitive to the leading of the Lord and is obedient to what is best for her family.  You can find her touching post here at the Clearly iStamp Blog.  She announced a special sale before the end of the month:

 

From now until the 30th of September all digis and SVG files will be 25% off!  Enjoy!

Enter this code at checkout:  SEPT30CLOSING

She also mentioned that Laurie Wilson will be gradually moving her fun digi sets to her blog, Doodle Pantry. I will also be joining the Doodle Pantry Design Team!
 

If you came here from Dana's blog you're on the right track for the blog hop. Today I'm using Lori McCroskey's stamp set "Christmas Card Sentiments." This is a great set of sentiments for the inside as well as the outside of your Christmas cards. It also contains Christmas Scriptures. Be sure to check out all of them at the link above.

Here is my CAS type Christmas card using Christmas Card Sentiments, Cricut Artbooking, 2 shades of Green Glitter paper, and the Sizzix/Tim Holtz "Wood Grain" embossing folder, using the Mojo Monday Sketch for this week and the Merry Monday Christmas Card Club #74 to use green, white, and woodgrain.

.  My outside sentiment was printed first before embossing. I folded a piece of cardstock to fit over and behind the sentiment before I embossed it so it wasn't as deeply embossed as the rest.

 

 The tree and the background woodgrain were both cut using the <L> key of the Cricut Artbooking cartridge. I really like the way you can size this woodgrain to fit your card using Real Dial Size. The square woodgrain overlay was cut at 6.25, just smaller than my card and trimmed off the right side to fit the 5" width. The center sentiment panel is 4" x 4" with the Pear mat cut at 4.25" square. The tree was cut at 3.75" to fit the panel. The left side strips were cut at 5/8" and 3/8."

This inside sentiment is my favorite and goes with the sentiment printed on the front since they both talk about the JOY we have in Christ.  Printing your own inside sentiment allows you to add your own "signature" like I did using MS Word or Photoshop. My card is 6.5" x 5" so I printed my sentiment easily on a 6" x 4" card. That makes it easy to print a stack of the sentiments to use inside cards.

Here you can see all of the other sentiments in the set:

 

If you comment and leave your email address, I'll put your name in a drawing to receive this stamp set free! The Winner will be chosen by 5pm eastern daylight savings time on Wednesday, September 18th, so leave your comment before then. I will contact the winner on Thursday. (If you've already gotten that set, you may select another set.)

 

  

To continue on the Blog Hop, you're ready to go to Jennifer's blog.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Craft-Room Challenge - Trees and/or leaves
Craft Your Passion #179 - Glitter and/or Gloss (CTMH green glitter cardstock)
Creative Creations #18 - Early Christmas Makes
Digi Makeover #105 - Make your own background
Merry Monday Christmas Card Club #74 - green, white, and woodgrain
Mojo Monday #310 - sketch
Our Daily Bread Designs SLC #170 - Get Ready for Christmas
Simon Says Stamp - Embossing
Stamps + Fun = Creativity #168 - Wood
Word Art Wednesday #97 - Anything Goes with Scripture or uplifting verse


6.5" x 5" Christmas Card Recipe:
Digital Stamps - CDS Christmas Card Sentiments
Paper - all CTMH - White Daisy, Pear, and Green Glitter Cardstock, retired "Believe" patterned paper (green stars-strip under the banner strip)
Tools - printer;  CTMH Cricut Artbooking cartridge; Sizzix Tim Holtz "Wood Grain" embossing folder


 

 

 

 

 



CAS Card with Cricut Artbooking Overlay

I needed a special thank you card for a friend. Words from a song we had sung in church many times kept going through my mind - Give thanks...with a grateful heart...  You may know another song by Hezekiah Walker called "Grateful." I've been reading that GRATITUDE is a very healing practice. I was challenged this week to start a gratitude album, so you may see that in the near future.  This card is a simple beginning.

The new CTMH Cricut Artbooking cartridge has some amazing features. It can make mini-albums and two page 12" x 12" scrapbook pages with all the features sized appropriately to take out the guess work. It has great titles and words - I counted 124! Here's a quick, simple card I made using the polka dot background on p. 51.  I was inspired to use this feature after seeing the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays to use Polka Dots!

 I used the Overlay feature  of the "rR" key, (portrait orientation) cut with Real Dial Size at 5" to fit my 5.5" x 4.25" card. I attached the overlay using mini-glue dots in a few strategic places along the edges. I wanted the main part to stick up just a little, but not pop dotted.

The overlays and other images are pre-sized to fit the 8" x 6" baby album featured on that page. That's why you need to use the Real Dial Size key to change their sizes. If you are interested in pre-ordering this cartridge or getting it for half-price, with it's 3 stamp sets and matching chipboard sets, please email me and I'll explain my special discount: vodell2@aol.com

All of the supplies used on this card are from Close To My Heart. The dotted heart stamp is part of the Cricut Art Philosophy set. (Each cartridge has three sets of stamps that show what size to cut each image.) The gray satin polka dotted ribbon didn't reflect the light well in the first photo, so I turned it a little in the second photo.

The sentiment is part of  the "Abundance" stamp set retiring at the end of this month. These are some of the stamps I'm featuring throughout this month.  The polka dotted paper is a sneak peak of paper that will soon be available!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays #109 - clean and simple with polka dots
Crafting by Designs -Anything goes with the twist "Thank You Cards"
Crafty Friends #7 - Inspired by a Song ( "Grateful" by Hezekiah Walker)
Creative Corner #27- Anything Goes
Inspire Me Fridays #111 - Anything Goes
Jellypark Challenges - Give Thanks
Sister Act #15 - Anything Goes


Thank you for visiting! May God fill your heart and mind with awareness of the many things you can be thankful for!

 

Clean and Simple Hearts

I'm still trying to learn Clean and Simple cardmaking. My last one needed more white space, so I'm taking the challenges at I Brake for Challenges to make a "clean and simple"card and at CAS-ual Fridays to do the same plus chipboard. I used a stylus to emboss two lines between which I stamped and heat embossed the heart border. By impressing the two lines first, I can keep my hearts going across the page without slanting since I had to stamp the border twice and couldn't see the Versamark that well. I tied a simple strip of red gingham above the embossed line and attached a chipboard heart that was pre-embossed. I simply rubbed it on my CTMH Holiday Red inkpad and wiped excess ink off of the design with a kleenex. Talk about simple! Quick, too!

5" x 6.5" Card"

Stamps - CTMH retired "

Ink - Versamark, CTMH Holiday Red

Accessories -  CTMH Irresistibles "Villa" Chipboard, retired ribbon