"Independence Day" Blog Hop

What ?!?!?  Hope you weren't expecting to see Will Smith fighting the aliens here!  We are actually featuring crafty creations showcasing "Independence Day" ... the holiday!


Not only are all of our creations going to be about Independence Day ... the holiday ... but they will also be using the Artiste and/or Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges available exclusively through a Close to My Heart consultant.  If you don't already have a Consultant that you are currently working with, please contact one of the Consultants in our hop with any questions you have!


In this hop, you will see projects featuring this versatile cartridges from many talented crafty ladies!  Enjoy our blog hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create.   If you came from Traci's blog - Paper Crafting 101 then you are in the right place!


My project is a fun "fireworks card" that I will be offering in my card class tomorrow.  I used the Art Philosophy Cartridge exclusively on this one (my Gypsy was being a brat).  I used different sizes of the starburst shape for the fireworks and the font to embellish the card with a fun onimonipea "BOOM!".  

The background paper is retired superhero paper that has a great blue background with light stars.  I've added some blue foil paper and some prismatic to add reflection.  Finally, I added some red gems in the second "O" and exclamation point.  

Overall, a very "Red, White, and Blue" ending to a fun card.  It was fast and so easy to do with the cricut...literally seconds to layout and assemble.  Hope everyone will like it tomorrow! ;)

I'm the last stop for the Independence Day hop but if you haven't already, head over to the beginning with Lucy's blog-Love 2 Create and see what everyone else came up with.

Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2Create 
2. Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts 
3. Michelle ~ My Flights of Fancy 
4. Jennifer ~ 4 Hearts Scrapbooking 
5. Traci ~ Paper Crafting 101  
6. Penny ~ It Makes Total Cents <<<YOU ARE HERE

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you.

"Resist" Technique Blog Hop

Yes, I still exist.  I apologize for the silence coming from my blog recently.  Life kinda overwhelmed me but I'm back and determined to be more consistent in my posting.  Starting with this awesome blog hop showing the "resist" technique.

When I hear "resist," I think of embossing powder.  For this card, I used manila cardstock, versamark, and colonial white CTMH embossing powder to emboss the small flowers from a retired stamp set.  The flowers created a backdrop for my Japanese stamped sentiment (another retired set).  Although I used retired sets, this technique could EASILY be adjusted to fit virtually any theme, style, or occasion.

I chose the direct to paper technique to add color layering gypsy and spring iris by dragging the paper over the pads.  I then used the edge of the gypsy pad to add some vertical lines for texture.  The background still seemed a little boring so I added black hash lines on the diagonals with my black distressing ink pad. 

Once I stamped the kanji and words in black in the blank area I left, I realized I could have made the background a little lighter.  But there are NO mistakes in cardmaking, only opportunities to embelish.

I chose to add gold to the project, stamping not only the sentiment (using the black as a shadow) but also adding gold to the center of the flowers with a gel pen.  To bring in a little more gold, I used the edge of my acrylic block to mimic the black small hash marks.  Finally, a little sheer and shimmery ribbon, a decorative edge cut, some distressing and inking, and a black background layer and the card was done.


I love how the inks fade away from the embossed flowers.  The purple tinted them slightly but I think the color looks great.  I chose the card color last as I wasn't sure what the final background color would be. 

Here is the blog hp line up in case you get lost.  Be sure to check out all the blogs for even more resist ideas!

1. debi - http://debiistheothersister.blogspot.com/
2. Shirley - http://www.momnmescrap.blogspot.com/
3. Joy: www.studiowowjoy.com
4 Penny - www.itmakestotalcents.blogspot.com  <<<YOU ARE HERE
5 Melinda Everitt - www.ifyoublingit.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by! :)