Photo Tent Help -- FINALLY

I love pinterest.  I really love pinterest.  I don't just pin, I actually make the recipes I pin, use the free printables, and study the beautiful cards I see!  The talent on the web is fantastic and I can never remember how to get "back" to the items I see that I love. But now, thanks to Pinterest, not a problem!  My most recent find was an actual tutorial using the very light tent that I just received.  I really am one that needs to be shown how to do something the first time, then I'm pretty well set. 

So, where did I get my answers?  Right here at Paper In Bloom.  The "artist" Carly Robertson does amazing work.  I just found her today and thought I'd share her with you!  I asked the Universe for photo help, and this where I landed!  I hope you enjoy her work as much as I did! After you get all caught up with her wonderful work, you'll see the post that says she's hanging up her paper crafting hat for now.  I'm so sad I found her this late, but...all of her previous work is recorded for history!

Now, I can begin taking some more pictures of the cards I have just waiting for their photo op.  But first, light bulbs.

How do you take your photos...

I'm SO excited!  I finally ordered a light tent for taking photos of my cards.  OH NO! I just realized that if my photos are still bad after this tool gets here...then it's ME!  LOL

I would love for you to share how you take your pictures!  Do you use a light cube/tent/box?  How do you get good lighting for your photos?

Please leave me a note telling me how you take your photos.  Why not leave your blog address, too!  I'd love to make a visit to your blog and see your talent!  And, since I don't have a decent photo to share today, I leave you with this thought, an item I found on Pinterest!  (Don't get me started on that subject!)

Every Moment in Time

The stamp set is called Key Moments, and surprise! It's a Close To My Heart set. The clock face was stamped separately and cut out, placed with foam tape. All materials in this card are from CTMH!


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I was so excited to finally find inspiration to use this stamp set!  Loved it when I first saw it, but then drew a blank.  I went back to look for the original card that inspired this one, and never found it again.  Most of these ideas are coming from surfing the web or Pinterest, and I often lose my place.  If you recognize this "pattern" using a clock face, please feel free to let me know where you saw it.  I will edit my post to give credit!  Thanks for stopping by!

Life is Good!

This was fun to create.  I was inspired by so many cards I see on Pinterest.  Yes, I am a Pinterest addict, and I'm not ready to begin therapy, thank you!  I used the Roxie paper set from Close To My Heart.  The flower, leaves, and the scallop are all from the Cricut cartridge Art Philosophy.  I'm completely hooked on that cartridge.  Before this, I rarely used my Cricut.  Being a card maker, primarily, I just haven't incorporated cut-outs much, until now!  If you're interested in one of these cartridges, let me know! I'm sure we can work out a deal!!!

This is a workshop card, and I can't wait to share it with the participants!  Enjoy, and as always, I appreciate you taking the time to stop by!  Happy Monday!

Still Alive - No excuses

Been working on several workshops and making lots of cards.  That's about it. No excuses. This blog has been neglected!  My apologies for the quality of the picture.  I swore I wouldn't post another until I got a light cube.  No cube yet...but here's a recent card using the Cricut Cartridge - Art Philosophy from Close To My Heart. 

The colors, which are really hard to tell here, are Close To My Heart, Pear and Black. The paper is one that is no longer available.  Thanks for looking!

You've Got To See This at Scrappin' Becky B's!

Scrappin' Becky B, one of the ladies who does work that I LOVE, posted a project that I just HAVE to share...you really need to see her wonderful tutorial on these Stamped Tile Coasters.  While you're there...spend a few minutes looking at her other work, and you can decide what you're cooking for dinner while you're there (she shares recipes, too)!

You can get to Becky's page HERE.

Hope you enjoy her tutorial as much as I did!  If you do, please leave her a comment!  Then, I'd love to hear from you to know if you enjoyed the link!  Thanks for stopping by!

--Margo

A quick card using stickers!

This card was very easy thanks to the beautiful Close To My Heart Paper.  I only used one sheet the full size of the card, placed a matching sticker across making it look like two different papers, then added the flower sticker and tag.  Done in a couple of minutes!  The paper is retired stock I'm trying to use up. But, so many papers can be used this way.  Love the matching stickers (My Stickease) from Close To My Heart.
Thanks for looking!

So many cards, so few postings...and a prayer request.

Hi!  I've been a very poor blogger -- but, I have been making cards like crazy.  That's the good news.  The reason for so many cards is, well, not so good.  My friend was brutally attacked on her way to work on Dec. 27th.  She is at home dealing with the physical and emotional healing that needs to take place.  I could have posted the pictures without any story behind them, but I thought I'd ask you a favor while you're here.  Would you please keep Lisa in your thoughts and prayers?  She's an extremely strong woman, obvious by the fact that she survived!  Extra prayers will only help her on her long road to recovery.

This card is going out today.  I'll post some others over the next week.  My photography isn't getting better, my excuse this time is that I almost forgot to photgraph her cards before mailing them out!

All products are "vintage" Close To My Heart, with the exception of the dragonfly charm.

It's been a very busy week...

My craft room is clean!  And this is why:

I spent the last full week in the kitchen, and the first-ever family Christmas brunch turned out great!  Now, back to the craft room...and hopefully, more faithful blog posts in the coming year! Were you playing with paper, or flour this past week? 
I would love to hear what you've been up to...and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Birthday near the holidays? What does that card look like?

A birthday near the holidays means the card looks NOTHING like Christmas!  Well, at least in my world.  I always feel badly for the person who has a birthday near Christmas.  I make every effort to stay away from anything resembling Christmas colors!  So, this was the card for someone in my office that just celebrated her birthday.

I used the Magnifique paper and added some "feather-like" stamping on the large piece with the Lagoon color from the coordinating paper under the sentiment. Another quick and easy card, and she loved it!  So gratifying to see someone enjoy a card you made with them in mind.

Ok, that's the little break from Christmas cards...now, back to the red and green of the season!

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Gift Card for the Baked Goodies

Made this little gingerbread house for my cookie plates for the neighbors.  I rarely use my heat gun and embossing powders.  I forgot how easy it is!

I embossed the house on brown bag cardstock from Close To My Heart, then layered it on a card made from cranberry cardstock, and cut it out the shape of the house. The stamp is Around the Block. The November 2009 stamp of the month, also from Close To My Heart.  I'm loving the holiday prep this year!  Hope you are too!  As always, thanks for stopping by.
--Margo

Let the season begin!

I've been so excited for the holidays this year...not sure why this one feels any different than the rest.  Here's another card that is super simple for mass production!  Do you send handmade cards each year? How many cards do you send out each Christmas?

Have fun getting ready for the holidays!  And as always, thanks for stopping by!

Father Christmas - Not So Traditional

I had a lot of fun making this card.  Used brown Staz-On on glossy cardstock.  Painted the picture, then glittered him all up!  Just had to switch things up to see what would happen...well, this is what happened.
Enjoy, and as always...thanks for stopping by!

I really want that vintage look!

It was last Easter when I stumbled across a bunch of vintage'y Easter decorations.  You know, the kind with crepe paper, tinsel and glitter?  I was surfing Etsy at the time, and was absolutely mesmerized by all of  it. I knew I would have to try to make something and never got around to it.  What better time to try than for Christmas cards!  Go figure...when I want to see it again for inspiration, I couldn't find any.  So, I played around a bit and came up with this one.  Still feel like it's missing something though.  What do you think? I'd love to hear what you would add/change.  Do you know of any blogs or Etsy sellers who have this "sort" of stuff -- I'd love for you to share those with me too!

I'll play with this concept some more.  I found silver tinsel ribbon at Michael's yesterday.  I'm sure that will add more dimension.  Have a great day and as always, thanks for stopping by! --Margo

Noel - sing it with me?

Here's a card inspired by the A Card A Day book by PaperCrafts.  The music paper I used is from the Misteltoe collection by Close To My Heart.  The stamp was taken from their Father Christmas set.  I used my Cricut to cut out the NOEL letters (Plantin), then used the sheet they were cut out from...so that it is set "stencil style".  My little music notes are from the Cricut cartridge Joys of the Season. I had a great time making this card.  My bff Kate and I went through every step together deciding just how to mimic the sample card (which was actually a school days sample).  I distressed the edges on this one and shaded around the inside of the letters.  Not sure if you can tell the cardstock I used for the stamp was worked over quite a lot to make it very plyable, trying to get a really distressed look. Hope you enjoy this one, and as always, thanks for stopping by! --Margo 

O Christmas Tree!

Whew!  Just spent the last 3 days in the craft room with my bff, making cards.  We had SO much fun trying new things.  The polka dot ribbon is copy paper, stamped and folded.  I saw this on a live-stream tutorial by Tresa Black.  You can find the link here.  I wonder if there is anyone who doesn't follow Tresa's fabulous work!?

This "Evergreen" stamp set is from Close To My Heart, along with the cardstock. Cardstock was embossed with dotted swiss and then sanded down to the white core.  I layered my trees.  Far right is a single, far left is a double, and the middle tree is three layers total.  The star was a pain to get three layered, I need to come up with something dimensional for this, but cardstock was all I had at hand.  Yes it's true!  There are things that I NEED in my craft room still!  A dimensional star the right color of yellow is one!

I have several more cards to post over the next few days. These last few days were SO inspiring! I hope to keep working even those my dear friend is on her way home!  I hope you have a great weekend doing something fun. 

As always, thanks for stopping by!
--Margo

Christmas card using my Cricut and Mistletoe paper

Had fun with friends this weekend -- I designed two cards and here's the favorite of the group.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and wishing you a fabulous week ahead of you!

(Sorry about the quality -- it's from my iPhone in really poor lighting!)

My how time flies...

Holy smokes...can it be almost 9 months since I added something here?  YIKES...good thing I don't have a paycheck riding on this!  I've made SO many cards since my last post I don't know where to begin.  I'm going to post a couple of pictures, and try to take time at least once a week to add more.  Now, after this much time, I may actually be "typing" to myself...as you may have just given up on me - LOL!  Wish I had a dollar for every hour I've spent on other blogs since the last time I posted on my own.  Hope you're doing well.  Leave me a note and tell me what you've been working on...include a link!
This first one uses the Magnifique paper.  I used Chocolate cardstock in the Cuttlebug and sanded off the color for a dotted swiss look.  The brown polka dot pattern in the center is actually a stamp set and the other 3 squares are added to the 2x2 cardstock.  Easy, but a nice way to use several papers from the paper set. 

This next card was a pattern from the Wishes book.  It's the Collage pattern.  This book always saves me when I need to complete a card and have no creative juices.  I just look at the pattern, grap a pack of paper (with all the coordinating patterns) and voila!  A card is born.  Just love this little bird!

Let me know if you have any questions.  As always, I want to thank you for stopping by for a visit! 

Happy Autumn!



Springtime Cards

Here is an example of a quick and easy card I used recently at a workshop.  I saw this done by a Close To My Heart consultant, and when I looked for her again to give credit, I couldn't find her...so, if you know who the orignator of this design is...PLEASE leave a comment.  Everyone loved making these -- it was a really fun day! Hope you like them!

These cards were done using the Cuttlebug and three different embossing folders, Smiles, a few sentiment stamps, and cardstock all from Close To My Heart.

Thanks for stopping by...

Notepad Holder for a Quick Gift

I made this notepad holder as a thank you gift.  You know how sometimes you see something and then everything else stops until you make it?  Well, this was one of those projects.  I totally "lifted" the idea and the details follow the pictures.

I saw this on Srappin' Becky B. and loved it!  She does great work and there is a very easy to follow tutorial.  I especially like how she keeps it quick and simple.
Thanks again for stopping by!