The Essential Micro-tip Scissors!

I'm determined to complete all of the weekly challenges issued this month on the Heart 2 Heart Blog, so today I'm sharing a card I created using my most frequently-used "Favorite" tool for the "Tool Time" challenge. As much as I absolutely LOVE how Close to my Heart is now offering such a variety of thin-cuts dies to coordinate with our stamp sets, I still find myself wanting and needing to get out my most reliable Micro-tip Scissors (Z534) to do some detailed cutting occasionally. These are no ordinary scissors!! If you like to cut out small things, having these Micro-tips really does make all the difference! I've had new customers tell me many times that they're "just not very good at cutting," but then I love watching them discover that with the right pair of scissors, they really can and do cut so much more effectively!

So here's a "fussy cut" standard-size card (below) that I created recently using the stamp set from the Workshops your Way® "Here For You" Cardmaking Kit (G1124):

...and here are the instructions (below) that I made up to

help my customers figure out how to put the card together!

(ink colors used are Black, Cranberry, and Fern)

Sometimes, if/when I have a large group of guests attending a class, and I know it will be harder to get around to explain each card to every guest in full detail, I'll make up a page like this (elements adhered on 12x12 cardstock and kept in a clear memory protector), that they can pass around and refer to, to help them make sure they don't miss any steps when the stamping and assembly of a particular card is more involved. I hope it is helpful to you also by helping you to see and understand how this card was put together. Enjoy!!

November SOTM Blog Hop!

THANK YOU for stopping by to enjoy our

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

featuring this month's SOTM:

It's the Little Things S1411

If you've just arrived here from CAROL's BLOG,

then you are on the correct path.

If you get lost at any point along the way,

you can see a full listing of all of the blog hop

participants by visiting this link here:

http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html

First, I'm sharing a standard-size Christmas Card featuring the Snowhaven papers (X7188B). Ink colors I used for this card include Black, Cranberry, Olive, and 2nd generation Olive (to stamp the wreath).

Here's my best tip to show you how to stamp "evenly-spaced" leaves on your wreath.  The circle is 2.75", cut from Colonial White paper with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.

I used the inside of a roll of our washi tape to trace a circle in the center very lightly with a pencil. Then, as you stamp your leaves around the circle (with 1st and 2nd generation Olive ink), simply line up the first vein of each leaf with the pencil line as shown, overlapping each leaf slightly on top of the next leaf to space them just right. If you can get the end tips of each center-most vein to touch, then you will have near perfect spacing (then erase your pencil marks, of course).

Second, here is another Standard-size card featuring the Pathfinding papers (X7186B). Ink colors I used here include Barn Red, Cocoa (for the sentiment), Glacier, Goldrush, and Olive (1st and 2nd generations again). I used stamp-rolling technique on the largest flower (Goldrush rolled with Barn Red).

Lastly, here is a view of what all of the images included in this stamp set look like:

Now you can continue on with the hop

and be inspired by more creative ideas

using this stamp set by visiting

TRACI's BLOG next!

Enjoy the hop!!