Wow...it's been quite awhile since I blogged on here- almost embarrassing enough to start a brand-new one so that no one discovers just how long a hiatus I had! But, here I go!
I started working with Close to my Heart in November and I am LOVING it! I'm just a lowly consultant and struggling to get it all going but I really adore the company, the products, and being able to justify doing creative things everyday! I have been hosting classes at my home and this set of pages is from my February class. The paper I used was from Close to My Heart's La Vie En Rose line- which is sumptuous black and white designs with bright and bold roses. Here are my detailed directions and supply list if you want to make one of your own!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAFxh-z3m7womqMh4zd4IIDTOOjEI-EsURKenc74hCRV8XapLxS_H6S32BSklCOVNK0Th4VKK6wUa3PYqkJCDKAZgOH8T-A9qi1gd6dIckaBFR-SCRLVtEuaCM-epmvODNr7n77RWBGqq/s400/IMG_1347.JPG) |
The Left Page |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabwkDSnrI6S8SAM-UQvezNyxJ_jzzOGUIfRDOmc2b7CHy79IogZfERwfYJI1mcOoQ5iHYRe-BorY2CVqtyn8t7tciojPm2VyMH78obN9c0gFBzZ0cPK9QoIXMoSz474WqKoZLd2ljktEg/s400/IMG_1348.JPG) |
The Right Page |
Supplies needed for the 2-page layout:
2 sheets Whisper cardstock (smooth gray)
2 sheets La Vie En Rose (double-sided paper)
1 sheet Hollyhock cardstock (smooth pink)
2 sheets White Daisy cardstock (white)
Black Shimmer Trim
Inks in the following colors: black, hollyhock, pear, and slate
Bloom stamp set
Cricut Art-Booking cartridge and stamp set
You can find all these materials on my website:
www.melaniescraps.ctmh.com
Aren't these pages pretty? (my horrible cell phone pictures just don't do the colors justice)
To make the pages: start with by cutting all your major pieces:
Cut two 4-inch-wide strips from the rose paper- save the remaining half for cards later!
Cut two 2-inch-wide strips from the hollyhock cardstock
Cut two 12-inch-long strips of Black Shimmer Trim
Cut your White Daisy paper- one piece should be 6 1/2in x 8 1/2in, the other piece should be 6 3/4in x 8 3/4in
Cut one 7 x 8 rectangle from your rose paper and one 4x7 rectangle.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ctcmvjhkFzr48Lv7cMFo-mID_YOnSbeiNzAxlU-_g0bSeNwFG8Tt8IJ_tKjJ686_mZeI1tECA-augsysjqxICLpn3yRrH0G9bPhdYvk72ZOmR4dsV0x8p4OKc_ON5K1esNlYDbaRvPWJ/s200/IMG_1354.JPG) |
Cutting the rose paper using my trusty
Fiskers paper trimmer! |
Now that your pieces are cut, it's time for the fun part!! I like to lay my pages out side by side and make sure that everything lines up just perfectly- but I recently got a new mat to work on- which has a ruler so that I can now measure it perfectly! So yay!
The first pieces to get affixed to the page are the black 4 inch strips- they go 1/2 inch from the bottom of the page- then line up the hollyhock strip- another 1/2inch up from the black strip. Finally, line up the Shimmer Trim another 1/2 inch up from there! Check out this picture: (full disclosure: to do this tutorial, I had run out of shimmer trim so I had to substitute this pretty gold and black ribbon)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWSl2RBZZMIdX6ccaWyl9dOigD-Z55cCvaSaCvrk_68U9JSEvjwDjev7g3byhMZxME2HK1l_Pdcd9vUtGRgvbXUFdysaCJfIP_A_KwQqXgFHvZ7239yi-jX0ye87ik4Ibnd37EO2mfHEe/s320/IMG_1353.JPG) |
(forgive the wrinkly finger and not even polished nails....it's winter) |
So make sure you do this to both pages- using Whisper as your base paper, of course. If you used the ruler- you can be certain that both pages will have the same spacing! (or if you don't care you don't have to measure- just eyeball it)
Your next task is to place your 2 rose rectangles in the upper left or right corner of your page:
The larger rose rectangle goes on your LEFT page on the LEFT upper side: it should overlap your black strip a little bit:
I left about a quarter of an inch of Whisper showing around my large rectangle- but you could always place it flush with the edge of the cardstock!
The smaller rectangle goes on the RIGHT upper corner of the RIGHT page: also with a quarter inch clearance on each upper side and not overlapping any of the black strip:
Check out the acrylic stamp I have laid there- this is a gorgeous lace-look-alike stamp from Close to my Heart's Cricut ArtBooking collection.
I wanted to add a little pop to the side with less rose paper- so I decided to put a little lace decoration using that stamp- you could use a different stamp, a half of a doily, or even use a lace stencil!
Before I stamp on my Whisper paper, however, I must finish placing my cut paper- the white daisy cardstock is designed to hold 2 4 x 6 pictures each without cropping- I placed my cardstock to house vertical pictures, but you can position it any way you want!
Time for the best part!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkqWI7waia4kDwLTJlz2NVZU4rJbwlMC9sFMC0Z4mRTb6EwGxKaKx57T64oyYeVXWpUinegc-ihsHDPZoA8RlX0CwCfJbsnCcur08LimQ6OvpgakAxa0dcjR5uKe_dCWOB22IlhU9YcAf/s400/IMG_1358.JPG) |
What you need for stamping this awesome layout!
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2KZSOHn0k2wAqKMfZBy1VbQaMwbAX8sNg6VKS8y_VGJUoUDXFDf4NXmCSzbdDYs5zBILG53bipG0UBh-PVKSgQPuWZcAGwg2dwvhiHfVd1KEerpRo6KmdEnF7u2E6ZiXYtezyvwpQdyrk/s320/IMG_1373.JPG) |
Starting with the flower: use hollyhock and ink up that flat flower-shaped stamp: this will provide the background color of the rose. Stamp it on a piece of your White Daisy Cardstock. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8rkhd40doZa09vc5xjDP1iPfbmVa_HYamIuDx-cbIT7GvQ3B7HAF1pAvyrVge9OgC4zbiVqtrb1EnaSXHdZNzpafLOaRWJcyfUAbfuOTHShnlNoAOSSKOHsPwg700aoOoIcyUCz9fIR8/s320/IMG_1374.JPG) |
Ok- so the first one I did (bottom) didn't turn out so good- but I inked it up again and BAM! Perfection!!!
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvnRWSkbEREqkH6IftnbPpF-kiL42PrFh7RaqoW41fOPVBSdjm_80dQqGpb4vfLwJKrnQendjEnNWKS6fD8XGQ88yTzCNwqJXV8fG6t79toHr3ItECkmX0_us-hFxoxE1vePZJkbs_QVg/s320/IMG_1375.JPG) |
Now for the outline- inked that up with Black...
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSG_v8JipGeJVCfsAuyFvNRBfGruJcNQYqBp_8i3btwkD5h4a-3X4Urlmsv_9ZT0u-6hxMOA-mokxpHih4H8tt_3gCIY1MNYqU5PCZ6pWXkYC2x-JGnw8Objv0AYBGGSUO8fxbdNhpeGNW/s320/IMG_1376.JPG) |
Lined up the outline to the background- and voila! Perfect rose!
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5mou7S1BKdpzATbFwySfs-Xs6Cbtcp5q-3KAqJ5BG4yZkljfMqabxPIjFQXgcD8-nJlBF4hwRzySkjGPgSV56AURadPn6FvQXSym6P1hhjNIVsRVl1iX4y9XeKOlmCBQmVPHnJJI2SWi/s320/IMG_1377.JPG) |
Now for the leaves- I inked up the background in pear- so nice- |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSeIoh9oHyndGIvxHWB-sSxJLDXYjQtqjGaNimpavdew09xyisnXZIyh4Wt-pEO_SH9tLn87eMVVshLB3pBNUohyo8YRs7Ll8qzcg2yhhyCz_pw9cZMqiY2gVGDwigal7zZzuKzW77npY/s320/IMG_1378.JPG) |
Inked the outlines in black- you could use a darker green or light brown- but I really wanted mine to pop |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7hhz8OObFFaZeGKWAQadrp9UpfTh_CEnOGx0661DTUII3bXnw7UCmeNO6uabzsjPWnLxgMLejPpgwNKw8HKjjrdxjC20GmFPLKzNIvWj-CQ8tQHXrDMh8P1RXMTyYRYTziS7gGp69Z4W/s320/IMG_1379.JPG) |
Here's the finished leaf! Note that I didn't get it quite perfect- which is ok! I actually love the whimsical look it has! |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpxTlovPbK1aFoJKYMFk-0ZVaCCoXufxwhGPpYK0wIe93Zo-ZmBMBFyXaOPXQTQ2PF2U6ChDGxzEvWd6239MHod5wK3t2m0xBZNbgdNe-CKE297oFGpcbWFARg6rFyDU2DVzgweVSUksc/s320/IMG_1380.JPG) |
Fussy-cut those and now you have perfect flower embellishment :) I adhered the rose with a little 3D tape and slid the leaf under it to give it more dimension. |
The last touches of this layout are optional: if you don't have a Cricut (I couldn't live without my Cricut!), you can make your own journaling block- but this is what I did:
I used the Close to my Heart ArtBooking cartridge and the corresponding stamp- I cut out my perfectly-sized shape out of the White Daisy cardstock and then stamped my journaling block- and BAM! Done.
Then I added pictures and some small embellishments:
Finished Product!!
Thanks for reading!