Holographic paper, Moon dust glitter gel, dioxide inks, diamond stickles, full card size thin cuts and paper

 Usually I am making 1 sample and making sure I can cut 6 - 10 cards from the same paper.  I have had holographic paper and the full card size thin cuts for a while.  I haven't really used them.  I decided to see how many different ways I could use these.  One of my adult children wanted sympathy cards so I went to town and "played".  Here is the results and some things I found out about it.

I like the think cut.  I used Holographic paper underneath it.  What I discovered is that I covered most of the card up with saying and image and therefore I am not sure that it is a good use of the holographic paper. I think using the Moon Dust for "shiny" might be better or just filling the holes with diamond stickles.  

The yellow top left is the Moon dust and dioxide inks.  The one to it's right is holographic paper and the bottom one was plain cardstock and no shiny things at all. I had been using so much shiny stuff I thought I would see if just "plain" worked.  This all card think cut with the flowers really didn't matter so much if it was covered up as the openings were larger to see the holographic paper and Moon dust underneath.  I used the moon dust on the yellow right on the cardstock.  I did that on several cards and realized that sometimes it wound up on the back of the card . I notice now that the one edge of the thin cut isn't stuck down.  I used the liquid tombow and then put a large acrylic block on top.  Adhering to the holographic paper and glitter gel need the liquid and a bit of time to make it stick good.  I think even if it might add a card layer, I would do the glitter gel on a separate piece and glue that to the card rather than put it right on the card.  

I had used the holographic paper underneath the butterflies. I really like it so I did all 3 that way.  I like how the butterflies stick up but found it difficult to figure out how to get the sentiments on it and almost just decided to put the sentiment on the inside. 

There were 2 thin cuts - leaves - that popped out and the one with a place to stamp a saying on it.  

I had some A size stamps that I hadn't used and decided to use the dragonfly and swallow on these as they were smaller.  The bottom card I used the diamond stickles on the buds and outline and used another thin cut for the sentiment in the middle.  The leaves didn't really work well to use the Moon Dust but the Diamond stickles were great to use. 

I will use the holographic paper again on the thin cut card fronts that are more open and you can see it better.  I will use the glitter gel as an all over background.  Until this point I only used the glitter gel with the dioxide inks for stencils.  For some reason I find that using shimmer brush, stickles, glitter gel, glitter paper and holographic paper seem to dress up the card and make it really pop. I showed them to my grandchildren and they already picked out which cards they want to make with the holographic paper when they are here this summer.  I will start keeping more holographic paper on hand and using it more.  

If you have fun just seeing what you can do, let me know.  If you have questions, let me know as well.  

Circles and Patterns and Good Vibes pages

 For National Scrapbooking day there were 2 different scrapbook kits.  One you make the background with a variety of circles using whole, half, quarter, papers to make circles.  The other paper used the 6x12 flip flaps that really extend the page space you have.  Both are really great.

The Circles and Patterns:

It looks like you have circles all over and then covered them up.  The trick was that under the mats there are no whole circles.  There is an illusion that the circles are everywhere. 

Good Vibes:

The flip flaps can be the exact pattern as where you place them on the page protectors or it can be placed anywhere.  Usually you put the flip flaps so they don't "fall" open when you open the page.  That means that on the left had page they flap to the right and on the right hand page they flap to the left.  I thought it was cute that you actually can use them anywhere on the page.  I have used them at the top and bottom and on the outside of the page protector but you can also use them anywhere - middle was the example. 

You need to know that once you put a flip flap down, it doesn't move. You need to decide that you put it on the page protectors and then you can put other pages in your albums.   

I have tried the Tab Thin cuts Z3983 on the flip flaps so people know there is something underneath to look for. If you do a good job making the flip flaps look like they belong, people don't know to look under them and the tabs help.

Have fun with pages and cards and save your memories.  

Many wishes card making kit

 This is one of the National Scrapbooking Day projects.  It used the Distress Oxide inks and stencils.  CTMH has developed the stencils in 2 stages so you don't need to mask.  One is the flower and the other the leaves. The Many Wishes Card making Kit makes gorgeous cards with the colors they chose but if you have more Distress Oxide colors, the world is your limit.  Challenge yourself to do the kids and then play with other colors.  This is a kit that has the littlest cutting I have ever seen.  The stencil is placed on the card itself but you can use a smaller than card size and mat it for variation. See what you can do.

All Kinds of Awesome and Postage Frame Thin cuts

 In the May-June catalog there are some things that just go together.  If you look at page 36-37, you will see the All Kinds of Awesome A1268 double stamp and the Postage frame Thin cuts Z4437.  You can use them separately but they really are cut together.  

May times you need to mask the stamps to get different colors but this set is made to go together. 

The thin cut frames are great with other stamps and the other stamps can be used in a variety of ways as will.  It is fun to try and do what is in the catalog and then branch off on your own.  

Little Penguins Album Workshop Kit

 There were 2 scrapbook projects, 2 card projects and 1 album for CTMH National scrapbooking day May 2022.

The little Penguins stamp set is quite delightful for many projects.  Below is the Album which is still available on my website. They will be available until gone. There are 9- 2 page layouts and a front and back.  It is a cute little book.  If you want more pictures, remember the flip flaps come in different sizes and give you lots of room for more photos and for journaling.

Isn't that Puny?

 Close To My Heart over the years has put out different stamps that are great for puns.  For National Scrapbooking Day they came out with a card set still available called "A Toast To You". 

You can make 16 cards of these 4 designs.  

I have some from specials and Stamp of the Month.  Not all of them are puny but there are cute sayings with critters.  Some have the Distress Oxide Inks in what I have labeled the stamps like that as "blotches".  I didn't use the stamps but did sponging.  Ones that are still available are under "Essentials" with titles like brush strokes. 

Here are some of the stamps you can use if you come to my card class.

Challenge yourself to use a type of stamp - like puns or critters and comments.  See how many different ways you can use them. 

Some of the stamps still available are: Pretty little ponies Z4425, Animal Party Z4396, Meowgical Z4408 and Take it Easy D2069.  Note when the stamp set begins with a Z there are thin cuts with it.  It really best to usually get the thin cuts as if you are making many cards or scrapbook pages using them, it is much easier with the thin cuts.  The stamps marked D do not have the thin cuts available at this time.

Same cards different techniques

 I love how you can get different styles using the same stamp set but doing different techniques.

Distress Oxide inks: You use a sponge or blending brush to get the colors onto the paper.  Because they stay wet for a while you can just keep blending and blending until you get the look you want. The color are vibrant and just seem to pop off the paper.

Water color Pencils: These can be used with or without water. The water will blend and make the pencil lines almost disappear.  This look is more subtle and give a softer look.

Alcohol Markers: Alcohol markers will blend if you do small sections at a time so that the marker is still wet.  You can use the Shimmer brush over it but you need to remember that the marker color will pick up on the brush and transfer. 

From left to right; water color pencils with shimmer brush. Alcohol marker, Distress oxide ink, Alcohol marker.

From left to right: Distress Oxide, distress oxide, water color pencil, alcohol marker

I used distress oxide inks with texture paste for backgrounds on the cards. I used the CTMH stencils. The distress oxide inks do not stamp as well but you can do it for accent.  

Challenge yourself by taking a stamp set and doing it in a variety of mediums.  What do you like for what occasions? I usually don't stamp a sentiment inside my cards but I am starting to gather some together to use.  I am also going to back to stamping the envelopes from time to time.  I find that variety is a spice of life.  Keep pushing your techniques and projects to the next level and have fun.