May Cross Canada Blog Hop Home Decor

Welcome Everyone to the May Cross Canada Blog Hop, featuring Home Décor from Close To My Heart!  We're going to give you a feast for your eyes.  If you just hopped here from visiting Nancy Klein you are in the right place.  If you just happened to come here first, make sure you visit the rest of the beautiful blogs in this Hop too.  If you'd like to work your way across the country, you can start at the beginning with Michelle at My Creations With Michelle .

 

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you!

 

Today I'm featuring the Hinged Display Tray from Close to My Heart.  It's a cute and versatile black wooden display tray. 

 

 

 

Closed, it measures 5" x 7".

 

 

 

You can display photos, memorabilia, 3-D items or whatever you like in this little tray.   One side of the hinged tray has four wells, the other side has three wells, one of them is large, the other two smaller.  The tray can be placed in whatever orientation best suits your display.   You can also personalize it to suit any room or any lucky recipient you choose. 

 

 

 I chose to keep mine simple and focus on just a few photos.

 

 

 

I placed mine with the three wells on the left, and in the larger one I've displayed a stamped image I love.  It says "Where flowers bloom, so does hope."  I stamped the image with White Daisy pigment ink onto black cardstock, then colored it in using pencil crayons.  I layered the color on heavily to make it glow, kind of like stained glass.  It reminds me of illuminated manuscripts in old and beautiful books.  On some of the flowers in the stamped image, I placed a tiny pearl accent to catch the light.  I then mounted it along with the word "Hope" framed below it onto the blue and white striped paper from the Ariana paper collection.  I added a tiny glass bottle with a cork stopper that I filled with paper flowers I colored with ink markers. The bottle is stuck down with Liquid Glass so it doesn't fall out.

 

 

 

 

The words Faith and Love are stamped with black ink on green patterned paper from the Ariana paper collection.  The font of the Vogue stamp set was perfect for this project.  I cut a black cardstock frame for each word using my Cricut and the Art Philosophy cartridge.

I tend not to use a lot of bling in my creations, but these needed something so I chose to place a pearl accent at each corner of the frames surrounding the words.  I love the overall effect and look forward to gifting this tray to its new owner. 

 

Everything you need to create a tray like this can be purchased through your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant.  Here's a list of what I used to make mine:

 

Hinged Display Tray (Z1838)

Ariana Paper Collection (X7179B)

Black Cardstock (1386)

Vogue Alphabet Stamps (E1026)

Black ink (Z2105)

Hope Stamp (A1153)

Cricut Art Philosophy Collection (Z1686)

Watercolor Pencils (3505)

Liquid Glass (Z679)

 

The glass bottle and the flowers I had in my stash, waiting for just this project. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!  If you are starting here, you can hop along with Michelle of  My Creations with Michelle . 

Free To Be Me Mini Album

Hey Everybody!  Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there, whether you are a mom, mum, mummy, mother, Nana, Oma or whatever term of endearment is used for you.  I wish you a wonderful day!

Today I've been using some of my Mom time to finish up a mini album I've been working on.  I've made this little one out of paper bags and the rockin' paper collection "Free to Be Me" from Close To My Heart.  It's a colorful, fun paper collection that just got my creative juices flowing, and this is the result:

 

The chipboard cover is wrapped in black cardstock, then decorated with the embossed teal blue paper from the collection.  I chose a "Life is Good" theme to go with these cheery colors.  The film strip is cut using my Cricut and the Artbooking cartridge. The feather is also cut with the Cricut using the Artiste cartridge.  The reel life accent is stamped using the Reel Life stamp set, also from CTMH.  I used some old Scrabble tiles I bought at a garage sale (knowing they'd come in handy sometime) to make the title. 

 

 

 

 

 

I hung a chunky charm from the spine, with ribbon, beads (from an old necklace) a little brass-bound book, and a key.  I like the "crazy hair" look of the ribbons sticking up from the charm.

 

 

 

 

There are six base pages in the album, each made from a bag with a cardstock flip-out attachment.  Inside the front cover is a vellum pocket using the feather vellum in the paper collection, mounted on black cardstock.  A big tag serves as a photo mat, and three feathers accent the pocket.  These were stamped with the CTMH Feathers stamp set and fussy cut.  The right side of the page has a belly band with a stop that holds two journaling spots. 

 

 

 

 

Each of the six pages has a large flap and all the main pages easily display a 4" x 6" photograph.

 

 

 

 

On the left of each page is a pocket that holds a bi-fold photo mat that can house two 3" x 3" photos.  The right side of this page has a photo flap that is magnetized and flips up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three pockets of varying sizes on this page assembly.  The outside corners of each of the page flaps are cut with a Fiskars corner punch to pretty them up a little.

 

 

 

The cute little mats on this page were cut from the paper collection, black cardstock and a single sheet of graph paper cardstock I had in my stash.  I stamped the words using the All The Details stamp set.  White Daisy pigment ink on the black cardstock makes it look like a little chalk board which I love.

 

This page has a pocket set on an angle and open on two sides, then a little ticket helps hold the mats in place.  A tiny camera accent is also stamped and fussy cut.  (Used the True to Life and Sightseer stamp sets for those)

 

 

 

 

Another magnetized flapped mat for this page, paired with a little side pocket and mini journaling mat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the back cover I built a waterfall feature that mats fourteen 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" photos.  I love how it showcases the gorgeous papers.

  

Each pullout mat has a large area to mat a 4" x 6" photo as well as a journaling spot below each.  Lots of real estate in this mini album which measures only 5" x 8 1/2".

 

 

 

So that's the latest mini from c1make1.  I hope you enjoyed it and are inspired to go build one yourself!  As always, feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.  For instructions, Ginger of My Sisters Scrapper has a great YouTube series on building a vertical paper bag mini album.

 

You can get this awesome paper collection for a measly $5 with a $50 purchase this month only from Close To My Heart.  You can shop with me here on my site, or through your nearest CTMH Independent Consultant.  Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for my next creation, coming soon!  Cheers!

Li'l Bit Country Mini Album

 

This little mini is made from envelopes and cardstock, with a chipboard cover.  I used the Close to My Heart "Jubilee" paper collection.  I love the bright colors and will use the album for an assortment of photos I've taken over the years of country fairs, parades, agricultural shows and other fun summer events that take place on the Prairies during summer.  I colored the letters on the cover with alcohol markers to match the paper.  The closure is magnetic and accented with a strawberry button.  A chipboard prize ribbon decorates the spine. This album is sprinkled with chickens...watch for 'em!

 

 

 

 

Lots of foldouts and interactive elements in this mini album.  I wanted it to be really fun and busy like a country fair.  Inside the front cover is tri-fold photo folder that tucks behind a chipboard-mounted image from the design paper.  Each page has a large pullout nearly 6" x 6" in size and accented by a cute metal button from the accents collection.  This album is very similar in construction to the other envelope mini albums I've shown, but a change in paper and the addition of some different interactive elements makes it a whole different color of horse.

 

This page opens to allow a spot for two photos and journaling.

 

  

 

The left side of this page has a large fold-out with a magnetic closure, the right has a tiered pocket which also folds out. 

  

 

With the page fully open, you can see there's room for a whole parade of pictures plus two removable mats and journaling space.  The pocket on the left is fussy cut from the design paper; the centre mat is held in tucked behind two chipboard strawberries.

 

 

 

 

The left page has a belly band that holds a moveable mat in place and a stopper to keep it from slipping down.  The right side is a gatefold page with a chipboard magnetized closure made from design paper mounted on chipboard and fussy cut.

 

 

 

 

Lots of real estate here too. 

 

 

 

 

The chicken is a placeholder for the mat, and on the right the page flips up to reveal...

 

another pocket and journaling spot as well as a 6" x 6" photo space.

 

 

 

 

This is one of my fave pages--fun and interactive.  The right side has a simple pocket with a movable photo mat.  On the left the page flips down and is held in place by a decorated photo turn.

 

The flip-down portion opens up gatefold style to give lots more room. 

 

 

This middle page is a smaller pocket page just for fun.  Perfect for journaling on the card inside.  The right side has a trifold 3" x 3" photo area with a magnetic button closure.

 

 

 

 

This page has matching flip-up portions and I may run a photo title across both flip-ups inside. 

 

The doilies are fussy cut and open to form a pocket on each page, with a moveable photo mat behind each.

 

 

 

 

This is just another flip-out page opposite a pocket page, but I hid a chicken behind the door, just for fun.

 

 

 

 

To complete the book, I made a "denim" pocket complete with rivets to hold event tickets , then inside the back cover a chipboard rooster and "best home cookin' " button holds in place a moveable mat.

 

 

And that's it for this busy mini!  I had loads of fun making this one, and I'm looking forward to collecting all the photos I have in mind for it and putting them in.  I may be a city gal, but I'm also a Li'l Bit Country...

 

Thanks for poppin' in y'all.  (okay, that might be getting to be a bit much--sorry!)  Come back again for my next creative side trip. You'll have fun--I promise.   

 

And by the way, nearly everything I used to make this fun little album you can get from Close To My Heart except for the magnets and the chipboard to make the covers.  Oh and the chickens too.  Sorry 'bout that.  You'll have to locate your own chickens.  Now get on out there and glue something!