Layout Thursday/2 for one

It's layout Thursday! Today is a bonus, I have two layouts on this one thursday. If you coming back to my page or new, welcome! If you are new, my name is Danielle and I am a CTMH Consultant with Close to My Heart. I am a scrapbooker at heart, but love all things crafty! So let's dive in to today's layouts and VIDEOS - you know I have a video! 

We are finishing up the super adorable workshop kit called True Love, found on my website. 

If you missed last weeks, tutorial for the first layout, check it out here. 

This week I am showing the last two layouts in one post, because this kit retires on saturday night. 

So here is a sample of what the other two projects turn out look like, then scroll down for the videos for each one! I love to show the ease of creating with the workshops your way from Close to my heart. 

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks post! Be sure to swing back by tomorrow for some more inspiration tips, and fun! 

To see my other True Love creation click here. 

To order your own True Love WYW kit, click here. I almost forgot to mention, the instructions are FREE on my website. Make sure you snag them before saturday, as they will retire too! 

Thanks for stopping by!
Danielle aka DanYell

Layout Thursday| True Love

It's Thursday, and that means a new scrapbook layout to check out! If you have never stopped by my Blog, WELCOME! My name is Danielle and I am an Independent consultant with Close to My Heart! I have this cute little blog, where I show you tutorials, introduce kits and share my blog hop creations with you all. So glad you stopped by today. 

I started a new series several actually with a fellow CTMH sister. We are challenging each other to post more often and with richer content. In attempts to better ourselves as crafters and bloggers. For this weeks layout, I am focusing on the True Love workshop kit from CTMH. 

This kit comes with instructions you can download FREE from my website, to create three two page layouts. Check out this blog post and video to see what I did with the left over paper! 

For today's layout we are going to focus on project 1 a lovely two page layout can be easily altered from a wedding theme to a girls day or even a birthday theme. Scroll down to watch My YouTube video and see just how smooth and easy the instructions are to follow. 

I am such a visual learner, and so videos are my best friend! I hope you enjoyed checking this layout out! 

If you are interested in your own True Love Kit click here while you are there, don't forget to download the FREE instructions.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Danielle aka DanYell

5 Must Haves for your Next Crop!

We have all been there, the crop you signed up for over the summer is finally here, and you have know idea what to pack! 

Before you know it your car is filled from truck to drivers seat with your entire craft room. Sound great to everything on hand, right!? Now you get to unload it ALL and then try and figure out how to repack your car so it all fits again. If you are anything like me, you are already dreading go at this point. 
So I have my top 5 MUST have items that will make your packing light and your crop experience a success. 

1. Paper trimmer and extra blades
• Extra blades is a must- if you are cutting various materials your blades will dull quickly. I love my SureCut™ Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer.
2. Adhesive: Dry with refills and wet

• Running out of adhesive is a crafters nightmare make sure you have more than enough (the one thing that is okay to over pack) Bringing both dry and wet ensures you will have the correct adhesive for all of your projects. A go to dry adhesive is the CTMH branded runner. With it's strong hold, I am not worried about items falling off over time. 
3. Grid Ruler (2 x 14in)
• This is your best friend for layout placements - giving you great balance on the left and right side, along with straight photo mattes! I prefer my retired (sorry) CTMH grid ruler.  
4. White & Black Cardstock

• When creating layouts or cards, staple neutral colors on hand are great! Having basic White and Black will ensure you can stretch your pattern paper to the max. Think scraps for extra layouts or cards using White or Black as the base.
5. Kits
• Using premade kits or making my own kits for my crops is a must have. This helps reduce my luggage tremendously. Having each layout or card kitted up with all the items I need to create them is key to keeping my Crop item needs to a minimum. Watch this week for my tutorial on how I build my own layout kits. 

So, whats in your crop bag? Are you a take it all, or a minimalist? 

Leave a comment below, I'd love to know what you do to make your crop experience a success. 

Need more ideas or take aways on what to take to a crop? Hop on over to my Friend Michelle's blog My Flights of Fancy! 

Click on any of the links above to snag some of these must have's today! 

Happy Crafting

Danielle aka DanYell

Pink, Gray, Black, and White | H2H Challenge

If you {heart} Close To My Heart, then this challenge blog is for you!

Each Monday, a new challenge is posted, and Close To My Heart products are required to enter.

Don't have any CTMH products? Then beg, borrow, or BUY from our fabulous roster of Consultants!

Sponsored and created by Independent Consultants for Close To My Heart, all challenges will be posted on Monday mornings with the deadline to enter on the last day of the month or on the Saturday following the month's final challenge. All challenges close at midnight EST. (Each month, the final challenge date will be announced to help you play along. You have all month to play, so join us often!) You might even be in our Top 10!

Color Challenge - Pink, Gray, Black & White...

Welcome this week's H2H CHALLENGE featuring some of our favorite colors: PINK, GRAY, BLACK & WHITE!

I am inspiring you to use your stash of scraps. This card design is from the MFYH volume 4, and is made using scraps only!  Before you hop along to the other design teams inspiration, make sure you scroll down below, to watch a quick tutorial of this card in the making. 

Enter the challenge here: Heart 2 Heart Challenges: Color Challenge

Supplies used: 

• Sweet Girl Paper collection
• Embossing thread
• Charcoal Ink
• Pixie ink
• Black Glitter paper
• Silver gems
• CTMH Adhesive runner. 

Thanks for stopping by, I am excited to see what creation you submit, and who the winner is! 

Happy Scrapping Danielle.

The Perfect Scrap Stash Buster 2.0

So you just finished putting your workshop together, and boom you're left with LOTS. OF. SCRAPS.

Don't worry, this project is perfect to keep your scraps down to a minimum or none at all...

Ever need a quick thank you gift, a small token of appreciation? Perhaps you need a quick teacher or librarian gift? Maybe you are looking for customer or team appreciation gifts? 

This simple project will bust your scrap stash, and keep your thank you gifts stylish and practical!

I have an quick video tutorial here:

Need to measurements? No fear, even though I winged in the video, I did remember to measure for everyone...

You'll need one 10 x 3.5 for every mini tablet. 

Paper used: True Love

Adhesive: Liquid Glass

That's it! Leave a comment below, I'd love to know what your go to stash buster is! 

Danielle 

CTMH Technique Blog Hop| Sparkle & Shine

Welcome to the CTMH technique Blog Hop! I am so excited you are joining us! This is one big circle so be sure to hop on over to everyone's page!

We've got a variety of embellishments that align with this theme, including sequins, Shimmer Brush pens, glitter paper and more! Have fun checking out how we blinged up our artwork! If you are coming from Haley Dryer's blog you are on the right track.

At first glance this layout doesn't scream BLING. Take a closer look...

Adding bling to your stamped images not only sends the focus to them, but it also put a little character to them. 

Try accenting you title, here my title is 'Happy Camper'. By adding some gems between the two words I am enhancing the focal point. 

I'd love to see how you bling up your artwork!

Now swing on over to Miss. Carrie's Creations blog to check out her bling! Be sure check out all 16 blogs

Monday Card Candy| It's okay not to be okay

As we dive into a new monday card series (yes, I realize today's post is on a Tuesday) called Monday Card Candy, I want say not all cards will be glitzy. Rather this series will show case all card styles. You can expect to see cards that are basic or simple and elegant, to time consuming, and filled with bling.

Scroll below for a video of this card, or read along as I explain this process for creating this Monday Card Candy.

Step one. Measure 2 in from the right side of your card base, and draw a line. You are creating a guide line for your lace border stamp. Once your ink has dried, remember to erase your pencil line. 

Step two. Adhere the beautiful pattern paper to the left your lace border. 

Step Three. Create a background on the right side by using a 3rd generation stamping method. You achieve this by stamping twice on scrap paper, before then stamping on your project. It gives a subtle image.

Step four. Adhere the base cardstock piece, that will act as a border for your sentiment piece. 

Step five. Stamp your sentiment in Sapphire ink, towards the bottom, but centered. 

Step six. Using new England ivy stamp two ferns above the sentiment. Add a small berry in the center of the ferns, in raspberry ink.

Step seven. Add 3D foam squares to your cardstock base, and adhere your sentiment to this. 

Step eight. Final step bling your card out. I used sequins and liquid glass to add a bit of shine to the card in two clusters. 

Here is the final card, you can really see that third generation stamping. 

Here is the video tutorial:

If you love this card and sentiment, check out the matching card tutorial here:

Want this as a precut kit? Click here to place your order:

It's okay not to be okay Pre-cut card kit

What's your favorite element about this card? Leave a comment below, let's chat.

Danielle aka DanYellScraps

The Perfect Scrap Stash Buster!!

We've all got them, big ones, little ones, medium ones, doesn't matter the size, you'll find one in every paper crafters room; a scrap stash. 

Today I am sharing with you one if three ideas to quickly and easily use your paper scraps. 

I have three bags filled with scraps. Yes, I can makes layouts with them, but what else can I make? 

I started with my larger piece's, grabbed my embossing board and paper trimmer, and that's when the little triangle sticking out the back of my embossing board caught my attention. 

Lately I have been making envelope mini albums, GREAT, I will make one of those! Then I started looking at my paper, and I thought, how awesome it would be to make custom A2 envelopes with my solid cardstock! 

Simple, useful, and who doesnt like getting a bright colorful envelope in the snail mail!?!?!

Following the measurements on my embossing board, I cut my paper to 8x8 and started scoring, turning the paper, and creating embossing lines on each side. 

Once the score lines were made, I used the triangles created from the embossing lines crossing, as guides to cut 4 notches out. 

This allowed for the envelopes to be folded and adhered together without the bulk. 

Now that I have the A2 envelopes done, I am stashing them to side. I also decided to create gift card holders. 

Did you know paper that measures 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 makes the perfect gift card holder? Using the same process as the A2 envelopes, I created several of this super or so cute gift card holders. 

So, tell me, what do you do with your scraps? 

Join me next Saturday as I show you another stash buster! 

Have fun getting crafty. 

5 Reasons why I think Clear Stamps are awesome!

Stamping is great for a host of reasons, but it is even better when using quality stamps. That leads to me to 5 reasons why clear stamps are absolutely awesome.  

1. Did you know that clear stamps can be used with all sorts of inks, including dye, pigment, solvent, and alcohol inks? This maximizes the use of your stamps!!! 

2. Need to change your sentiment just a bit? I will cut it apart, and rearrange it on my clear block to fit exactly what I need to say. This does not change the way my stamp works at all! 

3. If I have a banner shape or circle that i am looking to fit a sentiment on, i can take advantage of the flexibility of the clear stamps. Leaving me to manipulate the clear stamps to fit right inside my shape. 

4. Ever stamp an image and the ink did not transfer or it just wasn't as vibrant as you imagined? Me too!  I can stamp over the image again because clear stamps are clear, I can see exactly where i need to fill in the the missing ink, or enhancing the color! 

5. I don't need a block for each stamp I own. Because there is a natural stickiness to clear stamps, I am able to stick them to a clear block, then remove when I am finished. 

So there are are my top five reasons why I think clear stamps are awesome. 

I purchase my clear stamps from Close to My Heart!  Here is some helpful information about the clear stamps from Close to My Heart. 

My Acrylix® stamp sets are premium-quality decorative stamps that offer crisp, precise stamping at a fraction of the cost of rubber. They’re easy to use, simple to store, and most importantly, offer creative control and artistic precision every time you use them.

If you're buying your first My Acrylix stamp sets, you’ll want to purchase the recommended My Acrylix clear blocks to go with them. Be sure to check out the My Acrylix Block Starter Kit (Y1501) featuring three of our most versatile block sizes.

What are your top five reasons? Do they differ from mine? Leave a comment below, and lets chat! 

Thanks for stopping by! 
DanYellScraps

How to use mini stamps like a BOSS| Layout Thursday

Mini, tiny, small, whatever you want to call the stamps that fit on your 1x1 block, are perfect for creating a one of a kind layout! 

Come on. Let me show you how!

Today we use the Grillin & Chillin Stamp set to create a tone on tone background! Want to see it in action...scroll down to watch the tutorial via video. 

Add as many mini stamps as desired to a block. Here I am using a 2x2 block and filled it with 6 images or min stamps. 

Using ink and paper that coordinate, randomly stamp your paper. Be sure to turn your block a quarter turn with each stamp impression. This gives a true Background feel, and avoids a monotone pattern.  

Now you can assemble the pages as desired. I have gone on to add a bottom boarder, and title, with suttle accents using shimmer trim and silver sequins. 

This layout design is my favorite. Do you have a go to layout design, you find timeless? 

Check out the video demo of this entire two page layout here:

Now, go be a BOSS with those mini stamps. 

DanYellScraps 

(Danielle)

Must have items in my craft bag!

When I am crafting on the go, I have my go to items with me. While I may add items based on what my goals are, these items are a MUST. 

Thinking about what you reach for the most or first is key to knowing what your must have items will be. This will change from crafter to crafter, and brand to brand, and over time. Once I find a product that works for me, by giving me the expected results over and over, it becomes a must have and I tend to stick with that brand. Nine times out of ten, once a company has a few good items, they are likely to have almost everything you need....most if the time.

Let's dive into my bag...

1. Surecut Deluxe Craft Paper trimmer. My trimmer is made by Fisker's. I love this company because I can order this trimmer through my website, and their warranty program is one of the best out there...the product has a lifetime warranty. That speaks volumes to me as a crafter. 
2. Corner rounder. When I am making card folios, which has been a lot lately, I round the corners to keep them from bending when storing and using the card folio. I also use this when making clusters for scrapbooking titles. 
3. Stamp scrubber. I love how this gets into the crevices of the stamps, removing ink in the smallest of detailed areas. This is easily cleaned with some warm, soapy water, and left to air dry. 
4. Intense black ink. This ink has quickly become a go to for me. It pairs nicely when coloring with alcohol markers, watercoloring with inks, and colored pencils. Because this ink is designed not to bleed with other mediums, it's a must have for me. 
5. Alcohol markers. If you love blending and or coloring like I do, then alcohol markers are a must for your bag too. These markers have been in my stash for over two years (I have the entire set available through CTMH) and not one marker has dried out. That's a plus for me. Each marker has the chiseled  or broad tip end and the fine tip. They blend well to create matching tones for the CTMH ink and papers. Bonus!
6. Liquid Glass. Before the new fine tip applicator was available, liquid glass just sat on my craft table taking up space. I couldn't get the flow just right, and before you knew too much came out and my paper bubbled. Ugh! Then the fine tip applicator  arrived and now it is my go to wet adhesive. The flow control is perfect for me, from adding sequins to adhering paper, I have just the right amount, everytime. 
7. Blocks. I keep a few sizes of blocks with me at all times to match whatever stamp set I may have with me. I prefer to use stamps on the recommended block size, to help keep smudges and ink transfers from happening. 
8. CTMH dry adhesive runner. This little runner packs a punch, and has proven to be a solid go to as a dry adhesive runner. It spits out the dots, and holds up really well. I found I have the option to reposition my things when first laying them down. When I find the item just how I want it, I can use a little pressure to make sure the adhesive is adhering. The ability to remove my items to adjust is key in a adhesive for me. The ones that are less forgiving, and stick on contact, are great for specialty items, like box making. 
9. Journaling pen. This serves two purposes. One, the given journaling. Two a doodle pen. I can outline my projects giving them an added oomph when i am on the go and with out my embellishments.  
10. Waterbrush. This brush, when used with my water based dye inks, adds another coloring option without carrying a full set of water colors. Check out this card where I have used CTMH inks and this brush to create a cute watercolor effect. My brush is a medium size. 
11. Shimmer brush. I can blend, and add shimmer....shhhhh I may have used this on an occasion to hide a mistake or two...err I mean embellish my project. This really dresses up your project. Now that the line carries several colors of shimmer brushes, you can use them to color your projects also...think watercolor meets shimmer! 
12. Non-stick micro-tip scissors. These sharp scissors hold up to their long name on every level. Cut through items that have adhesive on them, and have no fear of gunking them up. They will carry on with their sharpness, and maintain their desired sharp tips for fussy cutting. This is why I have 4 pairs of these scissors. 2 are currently lost, because my husband used them, and I have yet to see them after 2 years...that must say something right there. 

Thanks for stopping by, a link was added to the items mentioned above. If you need, any of the must have items mentioned, feel free to shop with me. I receive a small commission when you do shop with me, at no additional cost to you. 

Leave me a comment with your top go to items in your craft bag. I am curious to know how many are similar to mine. 

Want more crafty bag stash ideas? Head on over to my good friend Michelle's blog My Flights of Fancy

Have a scrappy happy day! 

DanYellScraps aka Danielle.

The art of Cardmaking Quickly| PreCut Kit

Quick, easy, and beautiful are tasks easy to accomplish in the stunning 12 card kit.

Are you spending lots of time designing cards to be left with "scraps you will use one day"? I have a solution to creating cards with little to no paper waste! 

The precut kit I am about to introduce you to, comes with exactly what you need, (nothing more nothing less) to create beautiful cards, quickly and beautifully. Taking away the design guesswork and adding valuable crafty time to your busy schedule. 

In no time at all you will have 12 cards, 6 each, of two designs. But remember if you love one sentiment more than the other, use it. Because these are after all, your cards. 

You'll receive 12 white daisy card bases, 12 envelopes each filled with the precut elements to create a card, a full packet of gold sequins, a full color set of instructions, and a brand new B size stamp set to use over and over again with any paper combo of your choice.

Bonus, I have two quick videos showing how to out these cards together. Perfect to pause and go as needed, especially if you are a visual learner like me. 

Order your pre-cut kit here: 

Watch tutorial one of two here: