Cross-Canada Blog Hop - March

Welcome to our Cross-Canada blog hop for March, featuring Easter. To purchase any of the products used in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether something you really liked or some new technique that you would like to learn how to do... by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop. If you came from Nikki of the Timeless Cottage in Hampton, New Brunswick then you are in the right place!

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One of our family tradition for Easter is colouring eggs together and then on the morning before brunch running around the house hunting for chocolate eggs.

I made this card using pattern papers from two different packs. Scaredy Cat (X7185B)  (meant for Halloween) and Confetti Wishes (X7198B)  (meant for Birthday). The colours go perfect together with thistle ink and cardstock. I used Easter Wishes stamp set. (B1422)  and coloured the chick with the ShinHan markers.

Easter card

The best part of the hunt is the SURPRISE as to what you find.  so I used an adhesive spring (Z1725) behind the chick... to make him wobble in his egg shell.

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Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Krista from Oshawa's blog. If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog, as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.


And don't forget
Friends don't let friends craft alone.

à bientôt,
Dominique

MAKE IT Crafty Hop - Easter/Spring Creations

Welcome to the •MAKE•IT•Crafty• Seasonal Blog Hop! This month we will be featuring Easter or Spring creations.

If you’ve arrived from Diana'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 around. If you get lost, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here.

This month we have a number of Close To My Heart Consultants from Ottawa sharing their creations using various CTMH products to help you get over the winter blues.
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 For me, the first sign of Spring is St Patrick's Day !!  Everyone wears green, paints shamrocks on their face, stands in the cold to see the parade and then ends up at the pub for some singalongs and drinking.

I know a little leprechaun, my mischievous and clever 6-yr old nephew.  He loooves candy and chocolates, so I made him his very own pot of gold... I decorated the Cut Above Holiday Treat Bag, it's the perfect shade of green.

 

St Patty's Day Pot of Gold

Outside on the front
I glued a gold chocolate coin at the bottom of the rainbow. For the bag topper I made a shamrock. and used the white chalk marker (Z1767) to trim the edge of ther leaves.  For the stem, I took the striped green washi tape (Z2002) and folded it lengthwise onto itself.

TIP: To make the shamrock, I used the Cricut to cut out 3 hearts out of green Topiary cardstock ( and glued them together using CTMH adhesive dots (Z1903).


CTMH's adhesive dot is strong
just peel back the protective pink plastic

Inside
I took one of the Picture My Life cards with the rainbow, positioned it just so, so you could see it through the window. At the very bottom of the holder, I taped gold dotted washi tape so it looked like gold coins.

Inside - PML card with rainbow

When I present the treat holder, it will be filled with a bag with gold chocolate coins. I know a little guy who will be happy to get this.
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Thank you so much for following along on our Blog Hop today! I hope you are enjoying the lovely artwork… Now it’s time to head over to Cyndy's blog and see her artwork! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas! And please leave comments for the other bloggers as you hop through!


And don't forget
Friends don't let friends craft alone.

à bientôt,
Dominique

Cross-Canada Blog Hop - February

Welcome to our Cross-Canada blog hop for February, featuring Cards made using any of the CTMH How-To Books. To purchase any of the products used in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether something you really liked or some new technique that you would like to learn how to do... by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop. If you came from Nikki of the Timeless Cottage in Hampton, New Brunswick then you are in the right place!
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1 Sketch 3 Cards

I pulled out my Make It From Your Heart - Volume 1 book (9035) and chose pattern 24 on page 44.  For less than $10, this how-to publication features 16 two-page layout patterns, 2 single-page patterns, as well as 12 different card patterns that are so easy to use.

Pattern #24 

With the above sketch, I made 3 cards. Si facile !

Step 1: Measure       

Step 2: Cut               

  Step 3: Glue. Voilà!   

I started by covering each of the 3 daisy white card bases (X254) with the snowflake paper from the Snowhaven paper pack (X7188B).  To make thinks interesting I rotated the sketch around 90 degrees each time which gave the cards a different look. These sketches are so versatile.

1 Sketch 3 Ways
 

#1 - Frosty Fun Skating

For the first card, the sketch was turned on its side. I stamped the image of the skating boy and girl from the Frosty Fun (D1611) stamp set. I used the blending pen (3174) and CTMH ink pads to colour them in. I glued the image onto Crystal blue mat (1292) and  2 strips of white shimmer trim (Z3024). The sentiment comes from the Hostess Reward stamp Better with  Friend (D1608) on page 9 of the catalogue, which is only available for purchase when you place at least a $150 order. I stamped the sentiment directly onto the blue mat and image. I wanted the focal point to be on the kids.

TIP: I used the metallic marker (1768) to dot the center of the Snowhaven snowflakes to add subtle sparkle.

#2 - Frosty Fun - Snowball Fight 

For the second card, I used the sketch as is. I stamped the image of the children and snowballs from the Frosty Fun (D1611) stamp set. I used the blending pen (3174) and CTMH inks to colour in. The image is matted in Crystal blue cardstock (1292) and adhered to Olive green cardstock (1245) to contrast with the girl's red hair (actually Sunset ink). I used 3 strips of white shimmer trim (Z3024) across the bottom - sorta looks like they are standing in snow, right?.

#3 - Flakey Friends Snowman

For my 3rd and last card, I turned the sketch upside down.  I stamped the image of the snowman from the Flakey Friends (C1506) stamp set. This time I used the Shinhan markers to colour in for a more vibrant look. I glued the image on top of a strip of Snowhaven paper (reverse side of the snowflakes) and that is on a rectangle of Cranberry cardstock (1272).

Measure, cut, glue. as easy as 1-2-3. These CTMH pattern books are great way to help start things off.
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Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Arlene's Creative Space from Dunham, Ontario.
If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog, as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring Easter Fun creations. So mark March 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.

And don't forget
Friends don't let friends craft alone.

à bientôt,
Dominique

Make It Crafty Hop - Cards and Valentine Creation

Welcome to the •MAKE•IT•Crafty• Seasonal Blog Hop!  This month we will be featuring cards and Valentine creations.

If you’ve arrived from Natalie's blog at Scrappysassystudios, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way around.  If you get lost, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here.

This month we have a number of Close To My Heart Consultants from Ottawa sharing their creations using various CTMH products to help you get in a festive mood for the Valentine.
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Here is a funny card.

Melting Snowman Valentine's Card

The snowflake side of the Snowhaven paper reminds me of a wintery evening sky. I stamped the snowman 3 times, sliding him down so it looks like he's melting - which goes perfectly with the sentiment "Love Never Melts" from the same stamp set as the snowman aptly called Flakey Friends.

Supplies

Card base and envelope in Daisy white  (X254)
Pattern Paper: Snowhaven (Z7188B)
Cardstock: Cranberry red and Daisy White

Ink: Archival Black (44571)

Snowman image and sentiment: Flakey Friends stamp (C1506)
Embellishment: red enamel hearts (Z2009)
Shin Han markers: Marigold (Z2457) for the carrot nose, Barely Beige (Z2445) for the arms 

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Thank you so much for following along on our Blog Hop today! I hope you enjoyed all the lovely artwork… Now it’s time to head start over at Julie's blog at The ScrapZone and see her artwork! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas! And please leave comments for the other bloggers as you hop through!

Look for our next Blog Hop where we will feature beautiful Valentines projects,
 à bientôt!

Dominique

Everything ABC's Blog Hop - Y

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we are featuring the letter Y. This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set, an embellishment or a style. Whatever the crafter has chosen as their Y element will be featured in their post.

If you came from the talented Diana Saunders at FarmerDi then you're on the right track!
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For the letter Y, I decided to use both the Yuletide paper (X7187B) and the Yuletide Greetings stamp set (D1553) from Close to My Heart .

In the paper pack is this one sheet that just screamed to be used on Christmas cards. Here is how I divided it up.

You can easily make 10 unique card fronts from this one sheet. I chose to make 9 using little to no embellishments to let the paper speak for itself - just a sentiment and some ink. Below you will find four cards.

Card #1

Stockings hung by the chimney with care

In the card above, I used New England Ivy green cardstock to mat the pattern paper and adhered them to the CTMH card base in Colonial, the creaminess adds to the vintage feel. There was just enough space at the top to stamp the sentiment Yuletide Greetings from the gorgeous stamp set.

Card #2

Deck the Halls

 In the card above, I used Ruby red cardstock to mat the pattern paper and adhered them to the CTMH card base in Colonial. And at the top stamped Deck the Halls - another sentiment from the Yuletide Greetings stamp set.

Card #3

 In the card above, I used New England Ivy cardstock to mat the pattern paper and adhered them to the CTMH card base in Colonial. I distressed the card with ruby ink, and added 2 little sparkles (Z1752).

TIP
You can colour clear bling, using the ShinHan alcohol based markers. Here I used the colour Carmine (Z2448) for the perfect shade of red.

Card #4

In the card above, I used Ruby red cardstock to mat the pattern paper and adhered them to the CTMH card base in Colonial. And at the bottom I stamped the sentiment - this one came from the versatile Holiday Tag stamp set (D1560).

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Thank you so much for following along on our Blog Hop today! I hope you enjoyed all the lovely artwork…
I love getting your comments and feedback. Be sure to leave a comment below before you move on in the hop!

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Lauren Moore of CTMH Craftings. Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas! And please leave comments for the other bloggers as you hop through! In case you get lost along the way, go to Linda's blog ~ Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!


And don't forget
Friends don't let friends craft alone.

à bientôt,
Dominique

Make It Crafty Seasonal Blog Hop - Christmas Creation

Welcome to the •MAKE•IT•Crafty• Seasonal Blog Hop!  This month we will be featuring Christmas and Winter creations.

If you’ve arrive from Lisa at Prettypaperiesweets, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way around.  If you get lost, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here.

This month we have a number of Close To My Heart Consultants from Ottawa sharing their creations using various CTMH products to help you get in a festive mood for the holidays.
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At this time of year, everyone's "To Do" list seems to get longer and longer, so here is a quick and easy card so you can get back to all those other things like decorating, baking and spending time with loved ones.

O Tannenbaum - Mon Beau Sapin

To create the wood texture on the green cardstock, I used a stamp from the Pathfinding cardmaking WOTG kit with New England Ivy ink. I also used that ink to stamp the image of the Christmas tree. I added some Glitter Gel to make it sparkle.

TIP
You can also use CTMH's woodgrain embossing folder (Z1996) to create the wood texture.
Cut the gold shimmer trim in 2 smaller pieces - no point in wasting what you can see behind the tree...

Supplies

Card base and envelope in Daisy white  (X254)
Cardstock: Ruby red, New England Ivy green and Daisy White

Shimmer Trim: Gold (Z1985)

Ink: Archival Black (44571), New England Ivy green
Tree image: Always Grateful stamp (C1559)

Sentiment: Perfect Fit -Holidays stamp (B1412)

Wood texture: Pathfinding cardmaking WOTG kit (G1083) 

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Thank you so much for following along on our Blog Hop today! I hope you enjoyed all the lovely artwork… Now it’s time to head on over to  Wendy's blog at DoddsyDesigns and see her artwork! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas! And please leave comments for the other bloggers as you hop through!

Look for our next Blog Hop where we will feature beautiful Valentines projects, à bientôt!

Dominique

Everything ABC's Blog Hop - letter V

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we are featuring the letter V. This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set, an embellishment or a style. Whatever the crafter has chosen as their V element will be featured in their post.

If you came from Catherine Nowak at Catscrapbooking  then you're on the right track!
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I confess that the letter V is not an easy letter to use for inspiration. I came up with VINTAGE.
So I took this vintage clock stamp set available for purchase by hostesses, and used a VARIETY of brown tones to give a sepia feel - just like in old photos. I used colonial, cashmere, champagne and chocolate cardstocks. But then I added some gears and a face to the clock and made an easel card for something different.   

Easel Card

And here is what the card looks like open

Inside

To make the base
Colonial White: 10 1/2" x 4 1/4", score at 5 1/4" and at 7.7/8"
Yuletide patterned paper: 2 5/8" x 4 1/4"
Bronze shimmer tape: 4 1/4"
Cricut Artiste: Gears cut out of Cashmere
Sentiments stamped in chocolate

In fact I made a set of these cards as part of a swap with other local CTMH consultants.

Swap-ready

To make the front
Chocolate mat 5 1/4" x 4 1/4"
Colonial 5"x 4", embossed with quaterfoil folder
Cricut Artiste: Clock base, clock face, clock hands and gear
Stamp mustache and eyeglasses
Bronze shimmer trim at edge 5 1/4"

TIP

Swipe you ink pad across the embossing folder before running it through the machine for added dimension.

Use liquid glass in the spectacles, it will dry clear gloss - helps makes it look more realistic.

Side view

Here is a side view to show you that I popped up the mustache after fussy cutting it out. I used the CTMH gold metallic marker to colour in one of the gears so it would look metallic.

TIP
Pop up the gears to give the card front something to rest on.

Thanks for visiting. I love getting your comments and feedback. Be sure to leave a comment below before you move on in the hop!

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Lauren Moore of CTMH Craftings. In case you get lost along the way, go to Linda's blog ~ Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!

And don't forget
Friends don't let friends craft alone.
à bientôt,
Dominique

Halloween/Fall Creations Seasonal BLOG HOP

Welcome to the •MAKE•IT •Crafty• Seasonal Blog Hop! This month we will be featuring Halloween and Fall creations. If you’ve arrived from the talented Lisa's "Pretty Paperie Sweets" blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way around. If you get lost, don't worry, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here with Julie, in The Scrap Zone.

It’s easy to hop along with us – just click the link at the end of each blog post to move to the next one. Just a gentle reminder to please leave comments for the other bloggers as you hop through! Enjoy.

In this hop we have 9 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using various CTMH products from the Annual Inspirations catalogue. These should help you get in a Spooktacular mood for Halloween.



I looove decorating for Halloween, so I created a spooky luminary. This rectangular luminary really sets the mood when it is lit up and the room is dark.

TIP: use a battery-operated tea light, so no fire-hazard with this project.

I chose a different Halloween image for each of the four sides. The Haunted House, Raven, Spider Webs, and Bones were all cut using the Cricut Arbooking cartridge. To add a little sparkle along the bottom and up along the edges I used some shimmer trim.

TIP: To help make the light glow, I used wax paper to line the inside - much more affordable than vellum.

Here is what each of the 4 sides look like lit up.

The following supplies were used:

Card Stock: Colonial white for the bones, Black frames and cutouts
Embellishments: Itty bitty sparkles for the eyes of the raven and the spider
Marker: Shin Han Golden Yellow used to colour in the windows in the haunted house
Shimmer trim: Black
Cricut cartridge Artbooking: All the images came from pages 70 and 71, the frames were all cut at read dial 7" and the raven at 1.75", the haunted house at 3.5", and the spider at 2.5".

Thank you so much for following along on our Blog Hop today! I hope you enjoy all the lovely artwork… Now it’s time to head on over to crafty Diana's blog to see some more great ideas!  

Look for our next Blog Hop where we will feature beautiful Christmas and Winter projects!

Don't forget,

Friends don't let friends craft alone.

à bientôt,

Dominique

BIENVENUE !

Welcome to FUN2CRE8 avec Dominique. This is THE PLACE for you to see what crafty projects I am working on, to find out about upcoming events such as workshops, crops and retreats, and best of all - get sneak peeks into product releases and any upcoming promotions or sales. I love getting a deal, don't you?

Through blog hops, FUN2CRE8 is also your window to a wider world of paper crafting. A Blog Hop is a great big circle of Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using great CTMH products on their blogs. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the special link in a post and move to the next blog. You can work your way all around the circle to visit the other blogs to get lots more fun and creative ideas!

There are a few blog hops out there that inspire me, and I am planning to take part in monthly hop that showcases the Stamp of the Month (SOTM) as well as the occasional colour challenge blog hop. These challenges are a FUN way to be CREATIVE , and it's fun to see how using the same products can result in very different creations.

Close to My Heart products make it easy to create beautiful and artistic crafts regardless of your skill level . I like being creative, but I also like it when it is practical.

So don't be shy, sign up your email account so you get my updates directly to your inbox. Feel free to send me suggestions of what you'd like to see more about on FUN2CRE8.

And don't forget
Friends don't let friends craft alone.
à bientôt,
Dominique