Author Archives: Brae Montgomery

Birthday Cards- two fun looks!

Can you even have enough birthday cards?! I don’t think so- it seems every time I create some then we have a whole bunch of family birthdays come up (not that they should be a surprise to me but somehow they are every year).  I made these two last weekend and have managed to hold onto the one but the other has already gone to brighten my sister-in-laws birthday!

happy bday hexagon card

 

The top card is a 6×6 card created with the Cricut Artbooking cartridge. I used the hexagon overlay and cut it out MANY times to create my white background (and on this one I left the inner hexagons in the overlay) AND to create the coloured hexagons to brighten my card.  The sentiment for the card also came of the Artbooking cartridge.  My ribbon banner was hand cut- just take a 1/2 inch strip of paper (I backed mine with some pink paper) and fold to get this look.    Aqua dots and flamingo dots were added for some more pop!  The paper featured is Lollydoodle.  I may try REALLY hard to never give this one away 🙂

happy bday kraft card

 

This card has a VERY different look- I used glitter paper, shimmer trim and Kraft paper for this one  The stamped image is from the ‘one-way borders’ and is stamped in white daisy ink on the kraft paper.  My centre image was cut on the cricut Art Philosophy.  I added some glitter gems and voila! I think this one is fun but a little distinguished- a more grown up look for a birthday card!

Do you handcraft your birthday cards?

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


‘Fun’ and simple layouts with the Cricut

 

I really enjoy finding inspiration and then re-creating it with my own touches (especially when they are simple layouts using the cricut!).  If you follow my Pinterest boards you will see (and can follow) my Card and Layout Inspiration boards and sometimes (like today) you can connect where my muse resides!  I saw something on Pinterest that ‘pin’spired this one page layout- it was so clean and simple yet so pretty! I just could not resist!! I used a variety of our current papers to achieve the look (and card stock as well)- there is Jubilee, Balloon Ride, Laughing Lola, Skylark, Ivy Lane an Ariana! I used the Cricut Artiste for my sun and the clouds.  My stamped sentiment comes from the stamp collection featured with our Cricut Art Philosophy and then our cork letters (they are gone now but were a favourite of mine!)  The adhesive sequins are not sold separately but were leftover from the Ivy Lane Cardmaking Kit – I do hope that we carry them in the next Idea Book as I have really enjoyed them.

day filled with fun layout

Where do you find your inspiration?

Share below!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Tuesday Technique : Spray Pen

Today we are going to look at the spray pen technique and using it for your cards and layouts!

Spray pens are fairly easy to use and we sell them in a convenient 3-pack- if you care for your pen then it will last you use after use! To care for it just make sure that you clean it after every use- storing any unused mixes in your pen could cause it to clog.

There are two recipes I use for making up a mix.

1. Re-inker and Pearl paint- mix a bit of water, a drop or two of re-inker and a very small amount of pearl paint in the barrel of your spray pen.  This mix will give your spray a pearly-sheen when it is dry.

2. Re-inker and water- mix a bit of water with a drop or two of re-inker.  Perfect for lots of different projects!
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Tips for using your spray pen:

try to keep a box around for using your spray in.  Place your project in the bottom of the box before spraying so that you do not end up decorating your entire table or room!

The first time you spray try it on a scrap piece of paper- holding your pens in different ways (or close or far away) will give your spray pattern different looks.  To ensure you get the one your like you will want to safely try it out ahead of time.

reinker screen shot   spray pen screen shot  pearl paint screen shot

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Embossing with Ink using the CTMH Embossing Folders

Today I am going to share with you a new technique: Embossing with Ink! I am also going to share with you the Damask Folder we have- very pretty!!

Embossing with ink is a very simple technique and only requires you to have the embossing folder of your choice, some ink (I recommend our dye based ink for these projects as they are easier to clean up than the pigment) and your project paper.

emboss with ink 1

 

Open your folder and rub ink on the side of your choice- for my card I chose to rub the ink on the raised damask pattern (you will get a different look depending which side you use ink on so play around and have fun!)

Next, I placed the front of my card on the non-inked side so that I could get the placement just right- I didn’t want ink to get on my project until it was begin embossed.  This is how it looked before going through my Cuttlebug.

emboss with ink 2

and this is how it looked once embossed! All the ink is now IN the damask print- so pretty!!!

 

emboss with ink 3

 

Of course I finished this up with some cardstock that I sanded to soften the look- and a sentiment from the Lollydoodle complements!

emboss with ink 4

 

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Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Embossing- Sandpaper technique

Yesterday I showed a project using just plain embossing – of course there was nothing plain about the project itself!   Today I want to introduce you to the sanding technique.  Although this technique can be used even if you have not embossed it looks gorgeous when you have!  Emboss your paper as usual and then take some sandpaper or our sanding block and lightly sand over the raised areas- because our card stock has a white core this will reveal that.  It creates such a nice finish and can take plain cardstock and really bring it to life!

little lala layout

 

Here is a close up of the blue piece of paper that I used with the sanding technique.

Other items used on this page- Balloon Ride paper, grey glitter paper, clear epoxy bubbles.

little lala layout close up

See you tomorrow!

 

 

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Embossing Folders

Yesterday I introduced you to the new embossing folders that CTMH has recently produced! Today I want to share some art with you using the embossing technique at its purest- just plain embossing.  I LOVE the look and the FEEL that embossing can give to a project.  In these cards I did the same thing for each- I placed the front of my card in the embossing folder (about 3/4 of the card front in the folder).  Once I placed the folder through the machine it came out with such a beautiful texture – this pattern is our ‘quatrefoil’- my FAV of all of them!

embossing card with bow

I then added a small strip of paper and a bow cut on the Cricut Artiste to finish of my card.  So simple and yet so pretty! So much so that I had to try it a bunch more times and with glitter paper- these are my new fav cards!!!

embossing trio cards

 

Tomorrow be sure to come back to see the sanding technique with embossing!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Embossing comes to Close to my Heart

Embossing has been around for years and like any aspect of Papercrafting it comes and goes with the trends- right now it is ON! Add to this that Close to my Heart is now offering a variety of  embossing folders and life is good!!

All this week I will be sharing different projects created with our folders- AND I will be sharing fun ways you can use these folders.  To start us off here is a video on our NEW embossing folders (all are available to purchase on my website and for the remainder of this week when you purchase two packs of card stock you get one embossing folder FREE).

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


The Amazing Skylark -Layout featuring Cricut Artbooking

Yes you may have guessed by now that my favourite paper pack is Skylark! I love to use it as it is so versatile and goes with EVERYTHING!   In this layout I use Skylark and the Cricut Artbooking cartridge (as well as a few other items) to share the amazement I feel as I watch my daughter grow and develop- the things she can do are simply amazing!

amazing skylark layout

 

My layout it fairly simple- it is one of the patterns that is featured in our Make it From Your Heart-Volume 2 book (if you have not picked one of these up I highly recommend it!  It is full of layout patterns with cutting directions AND has card patterns as well!)

I added a few things to my layout – sparkle flourishes, Midtown Cork Shapes, One-Way Borders stamp set and pigment ink to stamp with (gives the colours a bit more ‘pop’).  I also used the Cricut Artbooking cartridge to create my title AND the heart cluster.  I have used this heart cluster a few times- it comes from a larger overlay cut on Artbooking- I cut it in different papers and then hand trim off clusters and lay the layers together. I really like the look!

amazing skylark layout close

Products featured:

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Until we craft again, The Brae-er


8 Projects using the CTMH Cricut Cartridges

I am sure that you LOVE your Close to my Heart Cricut cartridges as much as I do- I almost use them exclusively as there is VERY little not on one of the three.  The collections they come in are just as useful- the stamps and die-cuts that coordinate perfectly with the cartridges are my ‘go-to’ sets time and again.

Here is a compilation of some of the projects I have done in the past year using our cartridges- more information on them can be found on the CTMH Cricut Collections Page of the website OR you can order any of these on my Shop page.

8 projects using the CTMH cricut

 

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TWO of the projects are new to my blog!  I hope you enjoy all of these and would LOVE to hear from you in the comments below – what would you create if you had one of our cartridges??

happy easter art booking layout

The first is an Easter layout I created using the Frosted paper we carried in the last Idea Book- I used glitter paper and the Artbooking cartridge to add some fun detail like the hearts and my title.  I also used stamping and ‘inked’ in my ‘Happy’ image with my blending pen and ink picked up from my blush stamp pad.  I also added some Kraft paper- it does go with everything after all!

huntington outdoor layout

This layout also using Artbooking and features the Huntington paper from the last Idea book- I LOVE the wood detail combined with the film strip  (which worked perfectly for the series of photos I took of my Dad jumping a stream).  All the other elements also came from the Artbooking cartridge!

 

Until we craft again, The Brae-er