H2H - My Favorite Technique

Over at Heart 2 Heart this week we're supposed to share our favorite technique.  And after thinking about it...I have no idea what my favorite technique is!  There's so many great ones - stamping techniques, paper folding, layout ideas - there's no way I could choose one as my favorite.  Really, my favorite thing is trying out something I haven't done before.  So that's what I've decided to share today - something new that I tried on a layout just recently.

Close To My Heart has some really amazing patterned papers and there are times that I find it difficult to plop pictures down on top of it!  The paper is so pretty and it's a shame to cover it up with photos and embellishments.  That's what happened to me with this paper from the Sweetheart Paper Pack.

 

Put the photo down on top of it, and you lose the wonderful look of the paper.

I decided to fix this by using a technique I'm calling the "making the background the foreground" technique.  Here's how.

I wanted to place my photo on the right edge of my paper.  I turned the patterned paper over and placed the photo where I would want it, but touching the left edge since I'm working on the back side.  In pencil, I drew a line along the bottom edge of the photo and along the right edge.

The pencil lines cut across some of the main heart images of the paper, which correspond precisely to the images on the front of the paper.  Using an X-acto knife, I traced the outline of any images that would be underneath the photo and touched one of the pencil lines.  Don't make any cuts outside the pencil lines, though...only make cuts connected to the pencil lines that are within the photo area.  The picture below has the photo attached to the front side so you can more clearly see where my cuts were.

Now turn the paper over and tuck your photo behind the cut out images, letting them lay in front of the photo.  I added a title and that was all the extra embellishment I thought this layout needed.  The garden of heart flowers still looks super cute and shares the stage with my photo.  I'm so happy with how this turned out!

H2H - Buttons

This week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge is to incorporate buttons into a project.  I loved all the projects submitted by the Design Team.  Definitely worth going and taking a look.  This is my card:

It took a little time to get those squares and rectangles to all play nice together  :)  I was amazed at how well the Liquid Glass worked.  It's virtually invisible behind those clear buttons.  This is a nice little card for using up scraps you have laying around.  

Mojo Monday - Something a little different

I decided to try out the Mojo Monday sketch this week.  The card I came up with feels a little 'heavy' to me because of all that black, but of all the different ways I tried putting paper pieces together, this was the look I liked best.  I love that piece of flowery patterned paper from the Sweetheart Paper Pack, though. I kind of think the card looks better in person than it does in the picture.  The Sparkles are hard to see and you don't get the full effect of the dimensional bits, both of which add a little something.  

Baby Girl Layout

Here's a baby layout using the Sweetheart Paper Pack.  The layout is loosely based on the "Now You See It Layout" from the book Magic.  The letters and the curly border are from the Storybook Cricut Cartridge.  Then I added the Dimensional Elements after sponging them with matching ink in Cotton Candy, Baby Pink, and Pear.  Some white ribbon and Bitty Sparkles finish the job! 

Cricut Cartridge:

Storybook

CTMH Supplies:

Bitty Sparkles (Z1263)

Sweetheart Level 2 Paper Pack (X7134B)

Pear Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (Z2197)

Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (Z2193)

Baby Pink Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (Z2102)

White Daisy Grosgrain (Z270)

Other:

1/8" White Satin Ribbon for bow