March 2019 - Joyful Stars Blog Hop!

Welcome back to the Joyful Stars Blog Hop!  If you have come here from the talented Debi's blog, you are on the right track!

Deciding that I needed to have a stash of birthday cards handy, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make them the focus of some workshops that I had planned to do.  So I took advantage of two of the great tools that Close To My Heart provides:  exclusive Cricut collections and How-To Books!

The Cricut collections provide me with the easiest way to design and quickly cut out pieces for cards.  The added bonus as a consultant is that I can easily multiply my cutting to get the biggest bang for the buck to make for quick work by my workshop attendees.

The How-To Books are just the ticket for easily replicating card and scrapbook page designs, but putting your own artistic spin on them.  And by using a desk pad, I can readily produce a cutting diagram to make the best use of a piece of paper.

Since this was designed to be a birthday card workshop, not only did I focus on pulling images that were celebratory in nature, but I wanted to be sure to use papers that were bright and cheerful.  The I Heart Us paper packet made a perfect marriage with our beautiful Glitter Papers!

I find that using two different patterns of CTMH patterned paper can elicit two unique looks that can appeal to the most discerning palettes.  The patterns used in this workshop from the I Heart Us paper packet provided the basis for two different themes for each set of cards.

Note that each set of two cards uses the same pattern but is designed vertically and horizontally.  Then by adding in two different theme combinations, you end up with two very different looks.

The addition of White Glitter Paper to the myriad of color helps to provide a nice contrast for the eye.  The Gold Glitter Paper with the Black Cardstock and pop of Canary Cardstock makes for really elegant cards. Glitter Papers provide that perfect pop of glitz that the birthday recipient should have on their special day! 

The Black and White Dots are a perfect addition to any paper crafting project.  The neutral nature of their "color", and the fact that they are relatively flat, come in multiple sizes, and are self-adhering make them a no brainer for me.

And although it's difficult to tell from my photos, these wouldn't be my cards if I didn't have Foam Tape under all of the Cricut elements!

If you have any questions about the products I used, please send me your asks in the comments!  In the meantime, be sure to check out the phenomenal work done at the one and only Betty's blog!