Please vote for me!

Hello crafty friends!

Here in Canada we are enjoying a beautiful long weekend of spring weather, barbecuing, cycling, admiring tulips, etc.

So why am I posting a Christmas card, you ask?

Over at Stamp Nation, there is a contest going on. You enter by posting a card made with Stamp Nation goodies, and ask your friends to vote for your entry.

Here is a cute card I designed last Christmas for the Caring Hearts Card Drive. It features the candy-cane strip background, stamped tone-on-tone and heat-embossed with clear powder, the frame die and sentiment from the Candy Cane lane collection, and finally, that adorable deer. We dearly love our even-toed ungulates (I had to look that up on Wikipedia) here in Canada: caribou, elk, moose, and of course, reindeer (although I think they may live in Scandinavia).

So get outside and enjoy the sun, but first visit THIS BLOG to vote for our cute friend.

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Meet....Jack!

 Cross Canada Blog Hop

Favorite New Paper Pack

This month, Close to My Heart released its latest catalogue, Seasonal Expressions 2.  It contains four new paper packs for your viewing pleasure. There is also a special paper pack created for National Scrap-booking Month, Live Beautifully.

Hop along with these talented, creative Canadians for some sweet sneak peaks.

If you've come from Nicky's blog, Simply Artistic, you're in the right place. If you wish to start on the East Coast, head to Michelle's blog, HERE and work your way west.

I chose to feature Jack.  As the mother of three boys (and yes, even my dog is a male) I'm always happy to find products for creating more masculine-themed projects. Unicorns and fairies just don't cut it...  Jack features a strong colour palette of red, black, grey and green, and some beautiful plaid patterns. There is also a bit of a lumberjack theme going on, which is PERFECT for the CFL team in my town, The Ottawa Red-Blacks, and their mascot, Big Joe Mufferaw.

 Ottawa will host the Grey Cup this autumn, and I'm sure I'll have some photos to archive from that event.

On to some projects!

Card #1

This release includes this BEARY cute stamp and die set. I used the bear claw paper with the zip-strip attached to make a backdrop for the bear. The "earth" is black glitter paper. The grey plaid mat is a PictureMyLife card from the  paper pack. I popped up the bear's snout and the banner with foam tape, folded his ears forward for some dimension and gave the nose and eyes some shine with Liquid Glass. Here's the inside of the card:

More use of the zip-strip, the die-cut "Happy" (from Happy Birthday Thin-cut) and rest of the sentiment from the Jack-Cardmaking stamp set.

Card #2

All those plaid patterns were screaming cozy flannel shirt, so I went with a patchwork/quilted look for the second card. I cut strips of paper in varying widths, as well as some of the zip-strips, and applied them to a piece of card stock which had been covered in double-sided tape. Then I ran the piece through my BigShot with a retired embossing folder. I sanded the edges and the embossed hearts for a worn look.  The sentiment comes from the Operation Smile stamp set, True Love, and the black glitter heart is cut using the Heart Thin-cuts.  Love the lumberjack paper! Reminds me of the NHL during the play-offs...

Layout 

This two page lay-out design is available from your CTMH consultant, and features the hero paper, a medley of trees. Perfect for pictures of camping or other adventures in the great outdoors. 

 I used the camper van from the stamp set Camping Life and the big Happy Thin-cut for the title--"Happy camper..." The grey twine and black enamel dots are Jack complements. 

On the companion page, the trees are stamped and hand-cut with a retired stamp set, but the Jack Scrapbooking stamps +Thin Cuts set includes two tree stamps which would look great. The grey plaid tree was made using the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, which is full of useful images.  I worked in a little more of the grey twine by using a Base-and-Bling adhesive circle, and winding some twine on top--looks like a rope or a cross-section of a tree, right?

Your next stop on the hop is Sheena at Kanata Newf.
Remember to leave comments and love as you hop, and contact your CTMH consultant to order any of the items which catch your fancy!

Happy hopping,

Caroline