Thursday, May 11, 2017

Just over a week ago, we released our latest idea book—Seasonal Expressions 2! If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can look through an online version or even download it as a PDF here. We know you’ll love it!
One of the paper collections in this idea book is called Little Dreamer, and it’s all about unicorns, magic, and dreams…which got us thinking about a certain sponging technique we love that adds a dream-like magic to all your artwork. Since it is so perfect for this collection, we just had to share it with you!
In a nutshell, here’s the technique: Use titles or shapes cut with your Cricut® machine or with Thin Cuts metal dies as stencils for sponging ink onto your pages.

Cricut® Stencils & Sponging Technique #ctmh #closetomyheart #sponging #cricut #ink #scrapbooking #cardmaking #howto #technique

First, use a bit of adhesive to attach your title or shape to the page. Next use a sponge dauber or the round sponge to add ink over your title or shape, and then fade the ink into your paper. Once the ink is dry, carefully remove your stencil (if there is any adhesive residue, it’s a cinch to remove with our Rub & Remove™ eraser).
For our artwork, we found it worked best to use both the round sponge and sponge daubers. We used a sponge dauber for a more concentrated look, like you can see immediately around our title, and then the round sponge for fading the ink into the page.

Sponging Tip: If you haven’t used a round sponge before, you’ll want to cut out a pie-shaped wedge from the sponge rather than using the entire sponge. That way your sponging will be more precise, and you can get more use out of your sponge!

We recommend playing with the round sponge and sponge daubers, as well as various amounts of ink, on some scratch paper before sponging onto your artwork.

This stenciling technique is a great way to create unique backgrounds for your artwork. For this page, we attached three clouds to the page and sponged around them. After allowing the ink to dry, carefully removing the clouds, and removing any adhesive, we cut three more clouds and sponged around the edges. Then we popped them up with 3-D tape to give the page dimension. The final look sure is dreamy!

Easy, Unique Mother's Day Gift

Easy, Unique Mother’s Day Gift

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, today we’re sharing the perfect gift idea for all the mothers and mother figures in your life—one of our Live Beautifully album bundles!
These bundles come with an album, journaling pen, adhesive, and our new, limited-time Cut Above® Live Beautifully layout kit, which has everything you need to make five layouts, including base pages, pre-cut pieces, stickers, and photo placeholders. There’s no cutting or stamping required—all you do is follow the photos and instructions to attach the pieces and stickers to your pages!
Each of the layouts can be assembled in 15 minutes or less, meaning you could easily use the kit to make a personalized gift. You could either preserve some photos that are special to your mother, or make the album a tribute to her as a mother. The Live Beautifully kit is all about celebrating those who inspire and uplift us, so you could write down your thoughts about her, and even have your siblings pitch in!
Here are some layouts to show you how this approach could work:

Here’s another idea: If your mother loves scrapbooking, you could give her the bundle so she can enjoy a fun, easy scrapbooking project. You could even give her a “scrapbooking night” where you can assemble the layouts together while chatting and snacking on sweets—any mom would love that quality time, especially while revisiting old photos and happy memories.
Whether she creates the layouts herself or receives them in a completed album, your mother will love receiving this bundle. And because you save 20% by buying the kit in a bundle, you are also getting a great discount on the perfect gift! It’s a win-win!

Order your bundle today, and show your mother how much you appreciate her!

Friday, May 5, 2017

Say It's Not so!

Yes, its Retirement Time Again!

There are too many items in our Going Soon area for me to give you all the images here. By the way, if you don't hurry some of those items will gone sooner than you will like. I noticed some of the items that were there yesterday are already gone!

So, don't delay - check it out and get your favorite item while you can. Yes, we are making room for the new, but its fun to make sure you get your favorite item.

Besides some of these samples, we have added stamp sets to the list as well. So, don't delay!

Here is just a little taste:

Hello and thank you for stopping by!

This is my first attempt on a blog - can you tell? I am sure you can. From what I have learned about blogs they are like an online journal and you are getting a peak into my soul ...

At this time I am trying to learn how to post my artwork with watermark and copyright and all that jazz -but I a, learning. My plan is to post my work and along with it I will explain what I used and how I made the project.

As we go along, I will also give you a peak into my life. I will share some pictures of my family, places we have been, places we have visited. So, please come back and visit often. Just know, that I am very new to this blogging thing! So, at this time - any help you can give me is highly appreciated in growing my skills in "blogging".

If you live close to me and you would like to join me in my craft place or one my crops please, check my calendar for any upcoming workshops!

Scrapping BeeHive

Pages

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Cricut Stencils & Sponging Technique

Cricut® Stencils & Sponging Technique