Cool Tip Tuesday - Making Ink Color Sample Sheets

Wow - what a whirlwind!  My kids were off for Spring Break and blogging definitely seemed to take the back burner!  I can't feel bad about it though because we really made use of their holiday time as they truly relaxed and did what they enjoy. Hopefully, I will be back at it for a while now!

Today's tip is very quick, but I find it to be very valuable.  I find it incredibly helpful to have Ink Color Sample Sheets.  Whenever I acquire new ink, I always add it to my color sample sheets.  I am a highly visual learner and seem to want to SEE everything I have at my disposal.  This doesn't always help when you have limited surface space, so this is a nice compromise!  A video is also included below.

I have included the pdf of the Ink Color Sample Sheet template, so feel free to download and use it.

For those of you that are not familiar with the term "second generation stamping", I will provide a brief explanation.  Second generation stamping is when you stamp an image a second time without re-inking your stamp.  I have included a video below which shows this technique, as well as how I made my ink color sample sheets. 

Quick tip - but as I said, I find it to be very useful and valuable.  Take care!

Cool Tip Tuesday - Using Duct Tape with Your Cuttlebug

Here is a quick card I made using the technique I want to share with you today as well as the April Stamp of the Month -- You are. . . 

The set includes 15 stamps and is a great stamp set for both scrapbooking and cardmaking.  Details on how you can get this stamp set for only $5 are at the bottom of this post.

I wanted to show you how you can dry emboss on duct tape with your Cuttlebug for today's cool tip.  I was able to make a video tutorial on how to emboss on duct tape - super quick and easy!

Here are the details on the card.  I covered a piece of 2"x5" cardstock with duct tape and dry embossed using the technique shown in the video.  I cut out the starburst shape using the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge (circle5 at 1-3/4").  The rest is pretty self explanatory.

Cardstock:  White Daisy, Black
Embellishments:  Red Bakers Twine
Stamps:  CTMH April Stamp of the Month set (You are. . .)
Ink:  Grey Wool, Pacifica, Tulip
Cartridge: CTMH Art Philosophy

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April Stamp of the Month

This month features the stamp set You Are . .  (set of 15).  It's retail value if $17.95, but with a $50 purchase, you are able to purchase it for only $5!  This is a fantastic stamp set that works well for both card making and scapbooking!

This month also marks the beginning of our Dotty for You Promotion!

Dotty for You!

Snatch a Dotty for You paper packet at an incredible discount or even FREE!

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month in May by mixing and matching to your heart’s content with our new Dotty for You paper packet! The trendy patterns on the front of the papers coordinate perfectly with the dots on the reverse side, giving you lots of options for crafting colorful layouts, cards, and other projects. Dotty for You includes 24 specially designed, coordinating B&T Duos^® sheets (2 each of 12 patterns) and an artwork idea insert to get your creative juices flowing.
There are three ways to get this exclusive Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95:

• Place an order of $35 or more in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, and add the Dotty for You paper packet for just $5*.
• Host a Gathering with a sales total of $400 or more (excluding tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile^® donations) between April 17 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.
• Join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant between April 1 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.

Resticking Your Cricut Mat Video!

After posting the steps to "re-stick" your old Cricut mats, I was determined to put it into video format so you could see how easy the process was.  All I needed was a free weekend to figure how to create and post a video!  It's my first video attempt, so ignore the shadows :)  I'll do my best to get better at the whole "video" thing!

All the basic instructions are included -- I went a little longer than expected, but I wanted to share everything I have learned about this process.  Below it, I will post the link to my previous blog post of text and photo instructions. 

Blog post with text and photo instructions can be found at:

http://mystudiowithaview.blogspot.ca/2012/03/resticking-your-cricut-mats.html

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April Stamp of the Month

This month features the stamp set You Are . .  (set of 15).  It's retail value if $17.95, but with a $50 purchase, you are able to purchase it for only $5!  This is a fantastic stamp set that works well for both card making and scapbooking!

This month also marks the beginning of our Dotty for You Promotion!

Dotty for You!

Snatch a Dotty for You paper packet at an incredible discount or even FREE!

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month in May by mixing and matching to your heart’s content with our new Dotty for You paper packet! The trendy patterns on the front of the papers coordinate perfectly with the dots on the reverse side, giving you lots of options for crafting colorful layouts, cards, and other projects. Dotty for You includes 24 specially designed, coordinating B&T Duos^® sheets (2 each of 12 patterns) and an artwork idea insert to get your creative juices flowing.
There are three ways to get this exclusive Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95:

• Place an order of $35 or more in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, and add the Dotty for You paper packet for just $5*.
• Host a Gathering with a sales total of $400 or more (excluding tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile^® donations) between April 17 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.
• Join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant between April 1 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.

Cool Tip Tuesday - Are you in a "color rut"??

I try my best to put myself "out there" and look for ideas to help me do things faster and better.  I am always amazed at how many super-bright ladies are out there, and best of all, they are willing to share!

For today's cool tip, I came across this website that will help me with my chronic issue of being stumped by color selection.  I have a few 'tried and trues" that I always seem to fall back on, but I am almost color blind when it comes to choosing which colors go best together.

The site is called My Create Ink - CTMH Color Lab. 







All you have to do is choose a color, or two, or three, etc. from the list on the left of the site, then when you click on "search" it will give you a visual list of suggested color combination complete with a ranking.

I love to choose just one or two colors and see what comes back!  This site will definitely help me break out of my chronic color rut!  I like it so much that I am going to put a blog badge on the right of my blog that will lead directly to the site.  Whenever you are in a "color rut" just come visit my blog and the link will be there for you!