A Chevron Birthday (Technique Blog Hop)

For the Technique Blog Hop this month, we are showcasing overlays cut using the Artbooking Cricut cartridge from Close To My Heart.    

If you arrived from Shirley's "Mom 'n Me Scrap" blog, then follow along with the link at the bottom of this post to continue the Technique Blog Hop. 

This card uses the chevron overlay from the Artbooking cartridge as an accent in the middle of the card.  The printed chevron paper is from the Frosted kit and the sentiment is included in the Joyful Birthday stamp set.  Cubes & Colors card sketch from the Originals book was inspiration for the design.   

Please visit my good friend "Show and Tell, with Michelle" blog for another entry in this month's Technique Blog Hop featuring overlays from the Artbooking cartridge for Cricut from Close To My Heart. 

Technique Blog Hop participants:

• Debi Barber - The Other Sister
• Shirley Ross - Mom 'n Me Scrap
• Sheila Bennett - (here)
• Michelle Loncar - Show and Tell, with Michelle
• Sharon Bell - Sharon's Crafts
• Judy Faye Garner - Judy Faye's Place
• Joy McHargue - .....Wow.....did you make that? 
• Wendy Kessler - My Scrapbooking Blog
• Haley Dyer - The Inky Scrapper
• Marianne Hancock - The Scrapbook Chick
• Michelle Battitori - Michelle's Handmade World   

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

Frosted Snowflakes

Was in the mood to create a card and needed some inspiration.  Looked through my email Inbox and found some blog challenges with plenty of inspiration!  

Created a winter card using papers from the Frosted kit along with the Single Snowflake stamp and Snowflakes embossing folder.  The Snowflakes embossing folder was what "sold" me on purchasing a Cuttlebug several years ago.  It creates such a pretty background, and is so easy to use.  Embossing with the folders adds great texture to projects.  A few Sparkles were added for glistening snow. 

This week's Friday Mashup Challenge (FM139) is to create a "Winter project using Embossing," so that was the basis for my card.  Then the Color My Heart blog posted Color Dare #73 which is to use colors from the Frosted paper pack.  The colors that I used are Frosted Grey and Frosted Turquoise along with Twilight, Slate, and Whisper ink.  Some metallic silver Washi Tape behind the zig-zag paper adds a bit of sheen.  Layout of the card is based on the fun sketch this week at CAS(E) this Sketch! (CTS #57).  

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

My Happy Place

Finally, the last set of pages for the Album Retreat which Close To My Heart held in October.  Hope you have enjoyed seeing all of my completed scrapbook layouts!  

All of the pages for the Album Retreat were designed by the CTMH Art Department and include multiple cuts from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge as well as papers from different CTMH kits with a mixture of embellishments and stamp sets.  Even though each page is very detailed, it was fun and challenging to create each of them.  Click on any of the photos for an enlarged view. 

     

My Happy Place

For the 'My Happy Place' layout, I chose photos from many different places that I have visited as well as our home.  

My Happy Place (left page)

There are a lot of details on these two pages.  The polka-dot paper is from the Sparkle & Shine kit.  Circles behind both of the Outdoor Denim overlays include patterned paper from the Frosted and Sarita kits along with a variety of cardstock colors, some of which were stamped with images from the Geometric Backgrounds and Take Note stamp sets. Framework Alphabet was used to stamp the title, and sentiments from All the Details add a small touch to each page. 

My Happy Place (right page)

Embellishments include pieces from the My Crush Best Day Ever Assortment, Baker's Twine, Lagoon Houndstooth Washi Tape, Sparkles, Bronze Shimmer Trim, and some of the Base & Bling Word Accents.        

Be sure to follow my blog to see all of the completed pages which I will be sharing throughout the month of November. 

• Capture the Details (cover page)
• Hello World
• The Sweet Life
• Real Life Story
• Just Chillin'
• Today is a Good Day
• Looking for Adventure
• Hello
• 10 Things I Love
• On This Day
• My Happy Place

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

Real Life Story

'Real Life Story' is a very detailed set of pages from the Close To My Heart Album Retreat.  It took me a few hours to complete these, but I am very happy with the finished creation. 

All of the pages for the Album Retreat were designed by the CTMH Art Department and include multiple cuts from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge as well as papers from different CTMH kits with a mixture of embellishments and stamp sets.  Even though each page is very detailed, it was fun and challenging to create each of them.  Click on any of the photos for an enlarged view. 

     

Real Life Story

"Homework" for this set of pages suggested photos with reds, blues, greys to blend with the cardstock.  However, black & white was recommended and that is what I chose.    

Real Life Story (left page)

Preparation for these pages included quite a bit of stamping.  In fact, all five stamps from the Reel Life set were used along with four stamps from All the Details set.  Patterned papers from Sarita, Frosted, and Sparkle & Shine are combined with several colors of cardstock.    

Real Life Story (right page)

The journaling was completed as part of the "homework" assignment and printed on a Studio J 'No Limits' page.  It was nice to be able to format the journaling by specifying the font style, size, and color of the words.  Then it was simply cut from the 12"x12" print and adhered to the journaling spaces on the pages.  All of the photos for the Album Retreat project were also printed using Studio J so that they could be sized easily and then also cut from the 12"x12" print.        

Be sure to follow my blog to see all of the completed pages which I will be sharing throughout the month of November. 

• Capture the Details (cover page)
• Hello World
• The Sweet Life
• Real Life Story
• Just Chillin'
• Today is a Good Day
• Looking for Adventure
• Hello
• 10 Things I Love
• On This Day
• My Happy Place

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

Album Retreat ~ Capture the Details

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, then you saw lots of photos posted last month when I attended Close To My Heart's Album Retreat in Salt Lake City.  It was a wonderful weekend spent with friends, creating fabulous scrapbook pages designed by CTMH featuring the Artbooking Cricut cartridge.  

As they did with the Album Retreat in March (see my completed pages), CTMH sent a "homework" assignment a few weeks prior with specific themes and sizes for photos and journaling on each page.  For this event, they even printed the photos and journaling for us.  Completing the "homework" included uploading photos into Studio J and placing them into a specially-designed template so that all photos were automatically sized to the correct proportions.  Using the 'No Limits' pattern in Studio J is a great way to print photos of any size since you can create an entire two-page layout of just different size photo wells.  Since each two-page layout is only $6.95, this is a very economical way to print non-standard size photos.  

Each of the pages that we created is very detailed and includes multiple cuts from the Artbooking cartridge as well as papers from different paper packets with a mixture of embellishments and stamp sets. 

For the cover page, a black & white 5¼" x 4" photo was suggested.  Texture was added to the Colonial White background by spritzing a mixture of Slate reinker and water using a Spray Pen.  Stamp sets used for this page include All the Details, along with both the Take Note and My Life stamp sets which are included in the Artbooking Circuit Bundle.  Patterned papers are from the Laughing Lola and Frosted kits.  Click on the photo for an enlarged view.      

Be sure to follow my blog to see all of the completed pages.  In addition to the cover page, there are ten 2-page layouts which I will be sharing throughout the month. 

• Capture the Details (cover page)
• Hello World
• The Sweet Life
• Real Life Story
• Just Chillin'
• Today is a Good Day
• Looking for Adventure
• Hello
• 10 Things I Love
• On This Day
• My Happy Place

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

Spin Cards & Minis Stamps

One of my favorite new products being released by Close To My Heart with their Autumn/Winter Idea Book are Spin Cards.  These are 5"x7" pre-made card bases include a focal point with a die-cut circle that spins!  

At our Convention, CTMH provided all consultants in attendance with the supplies and instructions to create five different Spin Cards.  There are eight new Minis stamps available which are only $2.95 each, and they are perfectly sized for the circle of the Spin Cards.  Background & Texture papers from all six new paper packets are used on the cards. 

Gift Circle Spin Card:  uses A Little Gift Mini stamp along with papers from Babycakes and Huntington.  

Happy Birthday Spin Card:  uses Heartfelt Birthday Wish Mini stamp along with papers from ProPlayer and Laughing Lola.

Thank You Spin Card:  uses A True Thank You Mini stamp along with papers from Sarita and Laughing Lola.

I Love You Spin Card:  uses Dotted Love Mini stamp along with papers from Laughing Lola and ProPlayer.

Snowflake Spin Card:  uses Single Snowflake Mini stamp along with papers from the Frosted paper packet.

For your amusement, here is a video showing the Spin Card in action.  Actually, if I had wound the circle a few times before closing the card, then it would have spun around more when the card is opened. 

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355