Mischelle Smith

, by Mischelle

#397 Faux-Dori Planner / Calendar / Junk Journal Walk-Thru with Ideas & Inspiration

, by Mischelle

#396 Stinkin' Cute Cards Using Paper Scraps & a Video How To

Needing a little Art Therapy? Grab your paper scraps, adhesive, a yummy drink ... of course some chocolate and let's slip into a little ZEN!

This card technique shows you how to use paper scraps to create a card background. I personally use creative art techniques (like this one) to calm my thoughts and my mind and this naturally puts my mind in a state of zen and helps me relax. I encourage everyone to explore what art therapy can offer them! I would NEVER promise others results like mine ... just encourage to check it out!

It didn't take me long to get settled in and comfy with these Little Stinkers. Thank You CTMH for images that require very little coloring! And I did minimal ... here's my take on this SUPER cute card!

I had SO.MUCH.FUN. making this card! No doubt ... I'll make more. (smiles)

LITTLE STINKERS is the May Stamp of the Month Stamp (SOTM) Set from Close to My Heart. That means it will ONLY be available for sale until May 31, 2023.

Each month you can purchase a new D-size stamp set (above) valued at $19.95 for just $5—or you can get it for FREE as a VIP Customer! Qualify for this special pricing by placing an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products. This month’s set is only available May 1–31.

For the inside greeting I used:

Smiles from the Garden ... a FAVORITE of mine!

These cards are by CTMH ... darling! CTMH ALWAYS has the most AMAZING SOTM Stamp Sets and you should ALWAYS check them out! They are ALWAYS in demand!

So here is what I want you to KNOW before you GO:

Little Stinkers will ONLY be available until May 31st
Smiles from the Garden is a great add on collection for FAST and Easy cards!
I used Dream Maker scraps to create my card

If YOU would like to watch CTMH create their Strawberry Mice Scrap Paper Strip Card for National Scrapbook Day you can watch it HERE and it starts at 1:49:00

You can actually watch ALL of their videos they did LIVE on FaceBook for National Scrapbook Day! I learned SOOOO much watching them ... I created other projects while I was watching and really picked up lots of great tips. They leave the videos out there so YOU can learn also ... it's awesome.

If you place an order on my CTMH site ... THANK YOU! I appreciate you and your business! I'm having FUN doing what I LOVE and I'm looking forward to sharing more with you!

Love and Hugs,

Mischelle

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, by Mischelle

Classes

#395 Faux-Dori Elastic Tutorial for Cardstock Cover Video Tutorial

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, by Mischelle

Classes

#394 Faux-Dori Cardstock Cover Video Tutorial

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, by Mischelle

Classes

#393 FREE Faux-Dori (Faux-Midori) PDF Template Download!

Let's make this fun and easy Faux-Dori together using this DREAMY Dream Maker paper collection from Close To My Heart! I'll even share my FREE Faux-Dori PDF Template with you to download!

I've been making these fabulous journals for years now and my love for them only grows. This was, however, the first time I've EVER used CARDSTOCK for the COVER of one of my regular sized faux-dori's ... and ... I.LOVE.IT!

For the cover above I've used Periwinkle Cardstock ... YES! this is Cardstock from CTMH's new Dream Maker Cardstock Collection. This fabulous cardstock is printed with a pattern on one side and solid on the other. This Periwinkle has stolen my heart ... actually the entire collection has.

I used Periwinkle Dream Maker Cardstock and for the spine I grabbed my Life's a Hoot Picture My Life Cards and pulled out the 4x6 watercolor stripe card shown on my cover.

Although Dream Maker and the Life's a Hoot Collections are not exactly the same color palettes ... they compliment each other beautifully. I used these Picture My Life cards throughout this Faux-Dori and also in my Pocket-Dori that I'll be sharing later.

This is the inside of my empty Faux-Dori. I love that you can even see the brush strokes from my Gloss Gel Medium that I used to coat my cardstock. I have TIPS for prepping your cardstock cover that we will be covering in my next post so make sure you are following me!

Start thinking about your supplies and pulling things together that you might want to use in your Faux-Dori. If you want to order your product, like mine, I encourage you to place your order ASAP as product sells out FAST at CTMH! I will include the CTMH supply list below for your convenience. You can also find the supply list on the last post.

In the next post we will discuss prepping our COVERS! HERE is the FREE Faux-Dori PDF Template

Here's what to do NOW to prepare:

Download and Print Faux-Dori Template
Cut out the templates, ROUND the corners with a corner rounder
Attach templates to chipboard
Gather supplies on hand
Order supplies needed/wanted (smiles)

Dream Maker Paper Bundle

Dream Maker Die Cuts

Life's a Hoot Picture My Life Cards

Periwinkle Shimmer Tape

Capri Shimmer Tape

3x4 Flip Flaps

xoxo,

Mischelle

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, by Mischelle

Classes

#392 FREE Faux-Midori (Faux-Dori) Online Class, Templates, Tutorials & Tips ALL MONTH LONG!

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, by Mischelle

Cardmaking Workshops

#391 20 Great Cards Using 4 Easy Designs

What if I told you that YOU can easily create GREAT looking cards and have FUN doing it ... you can!

These days I'm all about easy projects (that I'm also proud of) and maximizing my time, energy and production in my studio. Cardmaking and Scrapbook Workshop Guides from Close to My Heart (CTMH) are making that a reality for me and I HAVE to share!

How freaking CUTE are these Happy Birthday cards! OH MY GOODNESS! CTMH has a Cardmaking Workshop out right now called ARE WE THERE YET? It is super cute but it is not on my shopping list.

DID YOU KNOW that YOU can DOWNLOAD and PRINT THIS VERY GUIDE directly from the product page I have linked above?! YES, YOU! Even if you haven't purchased this workshop. And you know what else?! If you DO purchase this workshop ... CTMH will include the FULL COLOR GUIDE printed on nice satin/gloss paper with the product ... YES! (insert applause)

How freaking fabulous is that?! Let me show you how freaking fabulous that is! (smiles)

NOTE: I reached out to CTMH to confirm that using the downloadable guide in this manner was okay and was told 'that is totally fine'. Learn more about CTMH Policies here.

This is Project 1 of the Cardmaking Workshop and you make 4 cards of this design.

This is the AMAZING Workshop Guide that I'm telling you about. This Guide will save you SO.MUCH.TIME! Seriously! Coming from the papercrafting industry myself ... I can only begin to imagine the investment that goes into producing each and every one of these workshops and guides. CTMH Workshops are worth every single penny of the price tag for the amount of work in the Guide alone! It's an investment and you can use it over and over and over again. Ok. You get it. I hear ya.

When you purchase this workshop you will receive enough product to create 16 cards, 4 each of 4 designs. (I always have a bit of supplies left over ... )

And there is always a Featured Technique.

Materials Needed are the additional materials you need to complete this. Sometimes I have to pick up a few things. Most of the time I use what I have or make what I have work.

There's also an image of the stamp set and the Thin Cuts included. Thin Cuts are metal dies.

Page 2 is Getting Started. It's SUPER important to read all of the directions first and before cutting (at least in my case). The directions may be foreign at first but you catch on quickly.

I LOVE how CTMH breaks down the cutting instructions for each piece of paper/cardstock. They tell you exactly how to cut and/or die cut every single piece. They even tell you where to make the first cut on each sheet of paper. (look for the scissors at the top of the diagram) I use small post-it notes to color code my stacks as I cut ... 1 through 4 and reuse them again and again. This Workshop has 3 pages of cutting guides which was one of the larger ones I've seen so far.

Here are the supplies I pulled together to use with this Cardmaking Workshop. I honestly wasn't sure how it would all mesh together in the end, however, I completely trust this system that CTMH has set up and I knew it would work and it did!

How fun is this Celebrate Today Stamp Set that I LOVE so much! It's perfect for me and all of my aging girlfriends ... LOL!

I didn't take a lot of process photos with this set of cards but I do show more on my Instagram so be sure and follow me there!

I always stamp the inside of the card as well as the back. And, I sign it. It's a personal thing. I just like to see who made the card. (smiles)

Notice the card on the lower half of the guide ... CTMH even gives you the measurements of where each piece of cut paper goes. I LOVE this! It is FUN putting these together. And if this is too much for you ... you can choose what steps you want to follow and those you don't! So easy.

Project 2. This project makes me smile! I have made a rule for myself that I have to follow and complete a workshop as designed BEFORE I make any changes. Well who knew this paper would be so GORGEOUS on the side they wanted me to put FACE DOWN???! It just didn't seem right! And it was only Project 2 so we were still in that I've got heart eyes for you stage with the paper. So, I made this card. This Laughing Lola paper is GORGEOUS, right? I wish it were still available but it is not ... it's OLD, OLD, OLD and I just happen to have a LOT of it. (smiles)

And then. I made myself re-do it correctly.

I am SO GLAD I re-did this card! This is my favorite card of the entire bunch ... LOL! I also challenged myself to try and use as many stamps in the stamp set that I could while still sticking to the design in the printed guide. Oh my goodness. I just LOVE this card! And I'm so proud of myself for using practically everything in the stamp set.

I can honestly say I would NEVER create cards like these on my own. I wouldn't have thought any of these designs up. I LOVE how these Guides stretch my creativity and teach me new things!

This card makes me happy! So what can you do when you have a stamp set and can't think of anything to make with it? Do what I do. I opened up Google and typed in:

ctmh z3629 celebrate today stamp set

hit search and then images.

I remember seeing a card that had a hand drawn black border around it like this (above) and I thought it really pulled that card together. I struggled wrapping this up and then that double black line border popped into my mind, I pulled out a black pen and drew around the edge. I think it and the bling were the finishing touches this card needed. And no, I don't remember anything else about the card ... just that border ... isn't that crazy! Thank you to whoever that was who shared their creativity with me and the world! mwah!

This card has my favorite inside! OH MY GOODNESS! I LOVE this inside and it was so FUN to make! Note to self: do more of this!

Project 4. Oh my goodness. When I started cutting out 1000's (ok, not really 1000's) of 1x1's ... I started to get nervous ... like ... WHO was going to be arranging them? And were these going in a STRAIGHT line? I started to sweat. Like ... I'm the ONLY ONE in my studio ... if you don't count my dogs ... and they won't be any help ... oh boy!

Turns out this was such a FUN card! And because of the measurements provided on the card in the guide even I figured it out. And here is my tip for making this card:

Organize everything before you start assembling! A clean, organized workspace can't be beat!

I did HAVE to make one change to this card and that was my cardstock above. You can see that my cardstock I was supposed to use just absorbed the ink. I was using OLD, OLD, OLD cardstock from my stash and it just soaked up my VersaFine Clair ink. In fact, it soaked up every color I tried to stamp on it. So I changed out to CTMH's White Daisy and came up with a look that I thought was pretty close to the original design.

I think this ended up being a much nicer look.

So let's recap:

1 Cardmaking Workshop Guide from CTMH that includes:

4 Card Designs with full size finished sample
Cutting Guides with Stacking Information for each piece of paper you will use
Assembly Diagram, with full size sample, for each card with MEASUREMENTS and TIPS!

LINK to ARE WE THERE YET? Cardmaking Workshop by CTMH
LINK to ARE WE THERE YET? Cardmaking Workshop Guide by CTMH
LINK to CTMH Policies
Celebrate Today Stamp Set by CTMH
About Your Age Stamp Set by CTMH (shown in card)
My Project 1 Card
My Project 2 Card
My Project 2a Card: my 're-do' and FAVORITE card
My Project 3 Card
My Project 4 Card & TIP
LINK to My CTMH Maker Website
LINK to My Instagram

There you have it. Lots of LINKS and a bunch of SEXY Happy Birthday cards ready to get the party started.

Remember to follow me on Instagram for the FUN stuff! (wink, wink) I actually post more process pics and videos on Insta because it's so easy.

xoxo,

Mischelle

Other Supplies I used & LOVE:

CTMH White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

I pulled LOTS of OLD and retired CTMH products and other supplies that I had on hand to complete these cards. It always feels GREAT to use up what we have in our stash! (smiles)